Memories of You
by Shadowed White Rosebud
Summary: 5 years after book 5, Nudge has lost her memory of Iggy, the one she loves. Can he bring her back to him, to fall in love with him again? Or will she lose her memory forever, with Ella in the way? Alternates Max/Nudge/Angel POV, Niggy/Fax.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N-Okay, so I recently fixed a couple things in this chapter. Major content is still the same. 4-15-10**

They never saw it coming.

No one would have thought that after a quiet day of flying through the air, Nudge and Iggy would have embraced again, only to have dropped from 300 feet in the air.

It was a sunny day, a warm day. Even after years of saving the world and working hard, now that it was over they all still wanted to fly. Iggy and Nudge had flown hand in hand, smiling at one another and laughing with the rest of the flock. One second, Nudge had waved a quick hello to Angel, the next, she had wrapped her arms around Iggy in a hug.

The next second, their wings just stopped working. Hovering carefully so that their wings had just barely brushed against one another, their wings had just stopped working, causing them to drop like rocks.

Nudge's stomach lurched as she saw the ground coming closer. Her wings wouldn't even move, gliding down wasn't an option. Her thoughts immediately raced to Iggy. They were going to die. At least they were going together, but she still wasn't too fond of dying. Not by a long shot.

She fought back a scream of terror as they fell right through the wet clouds. This sucked so much. Nudge was wet. Nudge was tired. Nudge was wishing she had never been created with wings. She felt Iggy's hand on her hair. "You know that I love you," he told her in a somewhat calm voice, like, oh, dying won't be so bad.

Yeah, right.

"Yeah, and I love you and all, but we're going to die, Ig!" she huffed. "This is no time to be muttering your last words!"

Iggy blanked on her, slightly confused. She looked up to see Max and Fang zooming towards them about fifty feet away, but there was no way they were going to make it in time.

_Ah!_

Pain zipped through Nudge. She clutched an unconscious Iggy to her chest, and glanced weakly around her. She saw jet engines, and a tail, two big bulky metal wings. _A plane?_ Nudge wondered mentally as she began to see stars. _Oh, no no no no no! _Nudge was silenced as everything went black.

I opened my eyes and blinked twice, taking in the sunny yellow curtains, the metallic bedrails, the white floral wallpaper and the antiseptic smell. _A lab?_ I thought dizzily, until I saw the IV next to me. _A hospital…_? I sat up and stretched, falling back onto my pillow as the room started to spin. I lay back on the pillow and breathed deeply. But I smelled something. _Scrambled eggs?_ I thought mildly.

Only then did I notice the five pairs of eyes around me. I panicked as I picked myself up and looked at them all. "W-who are you?!" I cried. "What are you doing in my room?" As my vision cleared, so did my brain and I smiled warmly. "Max…Fang…Gazzy…Angel…Total…I missed you so much." They smiled at me. "We missed you too, honey," Max said brightly. "You were in here for a while. Probably a month or two."

I panicked. "A month or two? Is that how long I've been asleep? W-What happened to me!?" I shuddered as I realized that my birthday had passed and I hadn't been there for it. "So I'm seventeen," I said faintly. "I wasn't here for my own birthday. I don't have any presents, or a cake, or anything," I sniffled.

Max put her arm around me. "We can give you all that stuff, Nudge. We have it all at home. You'll have your birthday. I promise." She brightened. "You're really lucky they could fix you. In fact, you were the first one to wake up. Iggy's still fast asleep," she added excitedly. I tried to nod. Why would I care? I didn't bother to ask what the heck an Iggy was. Probably one of those fake animals that moves and makes noises, like Angel's stuffed animals back home.

"Eh, that's great, Max. I'm sure Angel will be very happy when it wakes up."

They stared at me for a moment. "Huh?" Max asked, breaking the silence.

"Oh, is Iggy a friend of yours? A new pet you got while I was away?"

All of their mouths dropped open. They just stared at my like fish. It was really creeping me out. "Will one of you puh-lease shut your trap?" I grumbled. "Gaping at me like idiots isn't going to help me any. Do I smell scrambled eggs? Can I have some? Don't be stingy, I haven't eaten in two months!" I said excitedly as Gazzy halfheartedly handed me the breakfast tray. "Oh, and there's bacon! Thanks, you guys!"

Max dragged Fang into a corner. "She doesn't remember who Iggy is! She doesn't remember him!" Max whispered in a horrified voice. Well, duh, why would I? I've never _met_ an Iggy! "I don't know what we should do! Iggy's going to be so crushed! Or worse, what if he wakes up and he doesn't remember Nudge? What will we do, Fang? What will we_ do_?"

"Okay, Max, breathe," said Fang calmly. "I'm sure that once they're around each other enough to spark a memory, it'll all come back," he answered, biting into an apple. "Take it easy! It'll all work out," he stated lazily, putting his feet up on the footrest next to the hospital chair. He switched my television back to NASCAR. I wasn't really surprised, this was so Fang.

Max was beside herself with worry. "How can I deal with this when you're being such a jerk?! You're being totally irresponsible about your best friend, Fang! How could you? Think of how much this would mean to them? And they would owe you forever!"

I rolled my eyes. "Max, I don't know what you're talking about, but I'll never owe Fang _anything!_" I stated lightly, hoping that she would let it go. She was kind of bumming me out with talk of stuff that I didn't even understand. "I'm sure Fang is right. It'll all be fine," I said in a warning voice that even nineteen-year-old Max understood to mean "shut up now".

Max stopped her fretting and wandered out of the room, muttering something about "wonder if they have extra Valium," and left. I cracked up, because Max hadn't had any Valium since Dr. M took that chip out of her arm. "You love me _this much_!" Fang yelled after her. I smiled. "She really does, Fang," I said.

Max and Fang had bought a house together right after they turned eighteen, and we had all moved in with them away from Dr. M's, who waved us goodbye happily. No, Max and Fang weren't married, but they were living together, so you can all guess what that means. Let's just say whenever going into their room, always knock. Always. Knock. Don't come crying to me when you walk in on what I did last summer.

Of course, we still saw Dr. M as much as we wanted; she was kind of like a young grandmother. At least, we saw her before I had my coma. But I'm sure we still did. I'm sure of it. Nothing had changed…right?

Gazzy was thirteen, and Angel was my age the year we saved the world. I couldn't believe it, but she seemed as eternally young as ever. I smiled, remembering she would turn twelve in a few months. I reached out to Angel for my pink DSi, and she scowled as she handed it over. I stuck my tongue out and resumed playing some prissy girl game that I couldn't remember, but that was alright. It was bound to be like this.

Total swiped a piece of bacon off my plate, and I didn't complain, he had gotten a lot older. He was much more dignified than me, not to mention married, when I didn't even have a boyfriend. I smiled, remembering Total and Akila's first litter of puppies. Maybe I would have a family someday, but for now, I was so ready for summer, with nothing to do but go to the beach and find me a boyfriend. I was seventeen, tall, and quite pretty, after all.

After I got the high score in my game, I handed it back to Angel, who complained that I stole all the good levels from her. I laughed as she tried to get Total to use his little paws to play the game, but he complained, "Grown dogs do not play video games".

I stopped laughing and looked up as I saw a beautiful guy in the door. True, he was in a hospital gown, but he was tall, and the sun shone down gracefully on his strawberry-blonde hair. He had piercing gray eyes, and a smile that could shatter your heart. He looked upon me with complete adoration, probably thinking I was cute. I offered him my best flirty smile.

He walked up to Fang and tapped him on the shoulder. Fang jumped two feet off the floor and handed the hot guy some jeans and a T-Shirt. "Dude, get out of the hospital gown. Don't you feel…a breeze or anything?" he asked with a roll of his eyes. The cute guy blushed and walked out with the clothes. A few moments later, he was back.

He walked up to me, took one look, and a smile lit up his face. "Fang, dude, I knew she'd come around. I knew she'd get better." I flashed another smile at him, hoping I didn't look too bad. Geez, what a first impression. He smiled back. "It even looks like she remembers me. Don't you, Nudge?"

What?

I stumbled around the hospital endlessly. I couldn't believe it. I just couldn't believe it. How could Nudge forget Iggy? Had Iggy woken up? Had she broken his heart? I was completely out of it with worry. This was so stupid. I should have caught them. I should have fixed it.

Walking down endless halls, I finally ended up right back where I started, outside the hospital room. I took a deep breath before I walked in, and entered to find Iggy yelling at Fang. "She doesn't remember me, you insensitive jerk!" he grabbed Fang by the shirt collar and dragged him into the hall. Iggy pressed Fang against the wall and bellowed, "I love her and she doesn't remember me! Fix her! I don't know what to do!"

Fang threw Iggy back against the opposite wall. "This isn't my fault! It's not my fault that your wings won't work, or that your girl doesn't remember you! Wait it out, Ig! Wait it out, and maybe it'll go back to normal!" He was punched down by Iggy, fully recovered. "You don't believe that anymore than I do, loser!"

Fang scowled. "The thing is, Iggy, it's the only thing we _can_ do. There's no memory growth pill or anything. There's no medicine that can fix her. Snapping her out of this could by worse for her. The only thing to do is wait, and Nudge will come back to you, if you love her. If you love her, she'll love you," he said, not looking at Iggy. That was perhaps the most un-manly thing he had ever said. Iggy nodded, knowing Fang would never put his dignity on the line like that unless he was telling the truth.

I picked Fang up off the floor as Iggy went back to his room, pretending he hadn't just had a major meltdown. I walked back into the room with Fang, only to see everything the same. No one had heard that, which I found impossible. Nudge's eyes lit up as we walked in, and the first words out of her mouth were, "Who was that hot guy? He was waaaay hotter than you, Fang. All that strawberry-blondeness. Could you introduce me to him? He seemed to know you."

I slapped my palm over my head. This was going to be a _long_ memory gaining.

I piled into our car with the rest of them. We were finally going off to our house, and I was so happy. We would finally be a family, and I would have birthday presents and a cake and a happy sweet seventeen. A smile stretching from ear to ear, I hugged Gazzy and Angel as I got into the backseat of the minivan that we drove around for the convenience of space.

I saw Max talking to the strawberry-blonde as Fang was getting my things, and afterwards, he walked off in the opposite direction while we drove off. "No fair, Max," I pouted. "You have Fang, so you don't get another guy. Besides, what's with stealing the hotter one?" Max seethed and rolled her eyes. "I'm not 'stealing him', Nudge, he's just our friend. We were just talking," she growled as Fang practically giggled like a ten year old.

As I walked into the door to our house, I ran and jumped onto the couch, burying my head in the scent of our home, of explosives of Gazzy's, of Total, of orange soda and whatever food Max had burned this morning. It sounds totally disgusting, but this was the home that I missed. "My room!" I cried, running up the stairs. "Actual clothes!" I shrieked, ripping off Max's spare clothes and dressing myself in clothes that I would want to be seen in, not holey T-Shirts and distressed jeans.

I walked down the stairs slowly, when I suddenly froze. "I told him to come home later," Max said quietly to Gazzy. "You let a blind guy loose around town?" he wondered. I heard a smack, and Gazzy held his newly whacked head. "He knows his way around, we've lived here for four years, damnit," Max managed to get out. She walked into the kitchen. "Oh, God, I need an aspirin."

I shrugged and walked downstairs with my cell phone, newly charged and not a tad dusty. I had hundreds of texts and missed calls from my friends, but that was to be expected. As I sifted through which ones were important, Angel tapped me on the shoulder. "Max says to ask you if you want pink frosting or white with the rainbow sprinkles," she informed me. I sighed. Angel was so annoying sometimes. "Surprise me," I murmured dryly, and continued sifting.

The floor creaked as a loud _boom!_ came from the basement, followed by Gazzy's cackles from hell. "It works! It works!" he shouted. "I am a true genius!" I huffed, putting the phone away. There were too many distractions here. "Gazzy! Keep it down!" I shrieked at him, fed up with it all. I wanted to do my normal stuff, damnit! I'd missed out on enough of it.

"Sorry," said a charred Gazzy as he trudged up the stairs. His hair was spiked and no longer blonde, and his clothes were utterly ruined. "It works is all. I'll have to tell Ig-eh, nevermind." He scuttled away. Ugh! What was with everyone avoiding me and hiding from me and not telling me everything? I flew into the kitchen. "What's the story?" I demanded of Max, who proceeded to turn on the electric mixer. "Whaaaaat?" she yelled. "I can't hear you!" she grinned cheerfully over the noise.

I unplugged the mixer. "What's going on with you? Why do you all keep running behind my back? Tell me the truth!" I demanded of her. "I'm seventeen, Max! I'm not twelve anymore!"

"It was eleven when I didn't trust you," corrected Max.

"Whatever," I brushed it off. "The point is, you're hiding something from me. I heard you talking to Gazzy. If you don't tell me what it is, I'll find out!" I threatened, knowing Gazzy would do just about anything for food. Now, if I could just find out where to get some rare kind of food…

Max sighed. "Sweetie, you just don't remember much. We're trying to keep it as basic as possible until you can remember everything."

I argued. "What are you talking about? What is it that I don't remember?"

The doorbell rang. I ran to get it, and Max followed me. I opened the door, and Mr. Strawberry-blonde was there again. I smiled at him, but this time, he didn't offer one.

"That," Max answered softly, "Is what you don't remember, Nudge."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N- Alrighty then. Since I know there's not much Niggy, I felt the need to take care of this before I updated my other stories. I apologize, because I hatehatehate song-fics. This isn't really a song-fic, but it does have some song lyrics. Sorry, Owl City haters. Also, I would like to point out that the content in this chapter is a tad more adult. Keep in mind that this ficcy is rated TEEN. If you /are/ a teenager, then you should have no problem with this.**

**nm-maximumride4eva- Thank you so much for reviewing another of my fics! This really means a lot, thank you. If you wouldn't mind, could you offer your criticism on my other fic, "I'm Here for You"? If it's no trouble. ^_^**

**BookFan22 a.k.a. GwenFan22- I would like to offer this piece of advice: Iggy is a fictional character, he can't possibly be hot! xD But I imagine him hot, is that weird? I too am looking forward to the movie, thank you for reviewing.**

**Memories of You**

**Chapter 2**

**Max POV**

Iggy looked at Nudge rather coldly, trying to keep the bitterness out of his sightless eyes. "What do you want?" she asked with honest curiosity. "Are you here to see Fang? Or Max?" she asked brightly. He gave her a death glare, which she rolled her eyes at. "I live here," he said simply, and then walked downstairs, muttering something about "kill Fang, kill Fang".

Aw, Iggy, you don't have to take all your anger out on Fang.

"What was that about? I don't have _that_ terrible of a memory, I remember him! He was the hot one from the hospital! He's sooo cute angry, Max. You don't like him, right? You're not secretly dating him, are you? Omigod, Fang would be so angry at you. And then mess up that guy's face. I don't want his face to get messed up-"

I clamped a hand over her mouth. "Geez, do you ever stop to breathe? That's not what I'm talking about. He…he just lives here now, okay? H-he moved in while you were gone." _Shit, I'm so not a good liar,_ I thought to myself bitterly.

She removed my hand with impatience. "Max," she began, "I know he's blind, I know he's kind of standoffish, but I know he likes me. He said so at the hospital," she said brightly. "So as long as you don't like him, I figure it's going to be awesome between him and me." She forgot her mad rant, her reason for interrupting me, the fact that she was aware that I was hiding something. I had just lied to her. If she ever found out before she got her memory back…

I stalked back to the cake batter and my electric mixer angrily. The Saltwater Room came onto my radio, and I bit back a groan as I remembered. This had been Iggy and Nudge's song.

I sighed to myself. This was so frustrating! What were we going to do? Nudge and Iggy _had_ to get back together; they'd practically been in love with each other. They'd been dating for about two years, and were more inseparable than Fang and I. Iggy treated her like a princess, and she loved him back with all her heart. Not to mention how puzzling it was that he was the only one she didn't remember.

I shook my head. The logical explanation was probably that he was the only one she'd been thinking of after the fall before she blacked out, whereas Iggy was probably thinking a million things, like, "why are we falling?", "I'm so worried about Nudge", "I left the sink running at home", "I forgot to flush my toilet". You know. Iggy stuff.

Considering that Iggy hit his head first, being taller, and cushioning Nudge's fall, it was only natural that he would black out before her. She had a few seconds to worry about him before she finally collapsed, giving us a split second to catch them before they fell off the plane, but no more, their consciousness was gone and so was any chance for Nudge to remember Iggy.

Pouring the cake batter into a rectangular pan and shoving it angrily into the oven, I spun around, face to face with Fang. "I'm so tired of Iggy's mood swings. Honestly, I only put up with this kind of abuse from you. It's not my freaking fault that Nudge doesn't remember. Yet I get the abuse because he can't fight any of you. I'm gonna go snap Nudge out of this," he said with determination, marching out of the room.

"Wait," I cried, catching him by the shirt sleeve. "You can't! Once she knows, it'll traumatize her, trying to remember. She'll be unable to remember, forcing herself to, and it'll push her away from Iggy. At least she's happy in her own world, now, and she likes Iggy. As soon as they get close enough, I figure she'll just remember on her own," I reassured Fang.

Fang turned around. "It better be soon," he grumbled grudgingly, but smiled at me anyway.

**Nudge POV**

I left the kitchen to see Fang move past me swiftly. Maybe he was going to help Max bake my cake? He was probably there to get all pervy in the kitchen. He can do that all he wants, but I'm not eating any food that had to suffer through that. Way to get nasty around our _food,_ Fang. Get a freaking room.

Rounding the corner, I ran straight into the one called Iggy, his iced tea running down my shirt. Only concerned with the fact that my baby pink bra was showing through it, I didn't even look up. "Watch it, brat-" I began, but abruptly stopped when I saw that it was the cute one. And he was smiling, and not angry with me at all. Maybe he's only a hater with the rest of my emotionally challenged family. I smiled sheepishly, forgetting all about my shirt. "Uh, sorry…" I began sheepishly, but he held up his hand.

"I should have known better than to carry a drink around the corners in this house," he apologized. "I'm sorry about your shirt. It should wash right out," he offered, patting me on the shoulder and walking around to the kitchen. I huffed. _A pat on the shoulder? That's all I get?_

It was at that moment that I realized something. "Eh, you really shouldn't, Iggy, Max and Fang are in there-"

"Oh! Jesus!" cried Iggy as he came rushing out of the kitchen, his face reddened completely. "Fang, don't _ever_ do that in the kitchen! _Ever!_" he added. "My house!" Fang challenged back, laughing hysterically. "It's not like it's my fault! She let me!" I glanced at Iggy, too emotionally scarred for anymore words. "You can't see. What the heck was that all about?"

He straightened and glared at me. "I have _ears,_ idiot. And it wasn't like I could have missed it. Small kitchen, three people. Do the math," he fumed. "Gah. I'm going downstairs with Gazzy," he muttered. I stood there for a minute. _Whatever, I'm going upstairs to change _again.

**Max POV**

I blushed feverishly as I took the cake out of the oven and grabbed the can of white frosting and rainbow sprinkles. "Getting all cozy in the kitchen," mused Iggy. "You know, I think I'll go back to the hospital. Sure, I may have blood drawn every five minutes and hunger pains, but at least the food there is edible and not baked with love a la Max and Fang," he proceeded to gag.

"He was just kissing me," I muttered. "You do that with Nudge more than I do with Fang, because all of you claim that it's totally creepy for Fang and I to kiss each other because I'm sleeping with him."

"Barf," Iggy yawned. "It's precisely because a) you would have a heart attack if Nudge and I did do those things because she was only sixteen when I left, b) we don't do those things, and c) it is totally creepy because you haven't heard from Angel what Fang's thoughts are while he does that, but you probably don't have to."

I glared. "How much more freedom do you think I have? She's seventeen now, Iggy. It could only be a few more weeks, and you and Nudge can get married, love each other, do whatever the heck you want. I'm glad I have the time I had, or you would be right on it already."

Iggy frowned at me. "You know that I don't want you joking about that, Max. I already loved her. I thought you knew that." Great. Now he was using guilt.

"Iggy, I'm sorry, really. But you know that you've all seemed so much younger to me except Fang. I always considered you and Nudge too young. But you're right. You're nineteen and Nudge is seventeen, so between the two of you, you are eighteen, exactly how old Fang and I were when we moved in together in this house."

"It's okay, Max. And I mean no offense by this, but I'm really not that kind of person that you and Fang are. I would marry Nudge before anything else. I'd make sure she belonged to me and no one else. And I know that you and Fang love each other, but I'm not quite that afraid of commitment."

I stared, open-mouthed in shock. My eyes narrowed, and I couldn't speak. "E-excuse me, Iggy? What business is it of yours? What makes you think that you can say that about us? The only girlfriend you've ever had is Nudge, so you don't know what it's like to love someone truly."

"Oh, so I guess that's why you're not married," said Iggy bluntly. "If you love each other so much, you shouldn't be afraid of the smallest commitment that won't change anything between you two. It'll just make him yours, it'll make it right. You guys are making me seem like the adult here."

"That's not true. Getting married takes…something. And anyway, we don't need it. We're happy already."

"I don't think that's it..." he paused. "I don't think Fang wants to be married to you. Getting married takes an adult, Max. Do you think your beloved Fang is ready for that? Don't pretend I'm the child here. I know exactly how this goes, and I know that I love Nudge enough to want to actually marry her. Do you know why I was so depressed about her not remembering me? Do you know now?"

His voice was tense and strained, and if he wasn't blind, he would have picked up the knife next to him and stabbed me to death with it. "I'm giving you the finger, Iggy," I grumbled.

"No you're not," he answered quickly, despite being blind. Damn, he didn't believe me, he was too smart.

"I'm sorry, Iggy. I guess you really loved her."

"Gee, you think, Max? I still love her. I'll always love her, and I won't give up until she remembers me again."

I nodded. I bowed my head and thought of Fang. He did love me…didn't he?

**Nudge POV**

I grabbed a clean shirt from my closet and threw my old shirt on the floor. Replacing the shirt quickly, I glanced over at my bedside table. The picture frame on the table was disassembled, and without a picture. I walked over quickly. I looked all over and underneath my bed, but there was no picture, and I couldn't even remember what the picture had been. I sighed. My memory was so empty.

I turned on my clock radio and rummaged through my desk. Some song I had never heard came on the radio, and I sighed as I remembered that I used to know all the new songs. Two months was a much longer time than I thought. As sunlight streamed through the window into the room, I saw that it had been cleaned so many times that it was spotless. I giggled as I realized that it would be a trash heap in another five days.

The laughter died quickly as I felt a huge loneliness wash over me. I didn't have that easy, joyful life anymore. Certainly they all wanted to make it easier for me, but I was so troubled by the fact that I couldn't remember anything. What was even more disturbing was that I kept seeing that boy's face in my mind. Iggy, wasn't it?

His smile had just about stopped my heart, but I'd never been in love. It was a feeling I remembered in the back of my mind somewhere, it seemed so familiar, yet it shocked me. No one had ever made me feel like that. He was blind, but his smile was so welcoming that it made me feel like he would be easy to talk to, and carefree.

I flopped back on my bed and closed my eyes. The familiar quiet melody of a guitar drifted from the radio into my ears.

_I opened my eyes…last night…and saw you in the low light…_

Puzzled, I concentrated hard. Where had I heard it before?

_Walking down by the bay…on the shore…staring up at the planes that aren't there anymore…_

I listened to a few more bars, still not getting anything.

_…As if you actually were inside a saltwater room…_

Yes, that was it. I had heard it before. I smiled, curious how that song could make me feel so happy and safe. Before I knew it, I was singing along with the entire song. I stopped short as something tugged on my memory. _How do I know this song? Where do I remember it from?_ I saw his face again, Iggy. In my memory, he smiled at me.

"Nudge," came his quiet voice. "Nuuuuudge…"

_Am I hearing things? _I thought to myself. I opened my eyes to see him standing above me, looking down. "Nudge? Are you awake? I won't know if you don't tell me," he complained.

"W-what are you doing in my room, Iggy?"

He rolled his blind eyes. "Max has your birthday cake and the rest of them have your presents," he said to me. "They want you downstairs at your own birthday, Nudge."

"I never told you my name."

"And I never told you my name," he smirked. "Come on." He grabbed my hand and dragged me towards the door.

"Um, Iggy?"

"Yeah, Nudge?"

"Before…when you said they all got me cake and presents…do I get a present from you?"

"Just this," he answered, and silently stepped forward and kissed me lightly on the lips.

Pulling back quickly, there was nervousness in his eyes as he walked down the stairs, leaving me standing there confused.

**Max POV **

Nudge seemed out of it the whole night. She let Angel and Gazzy blow out all the candles, barely smiled at the new iPod Fang and I had given her, and forgot to thank Gazzy and Angel for their cute little homemade gifts. She didn't make eye contact with Iggy once, and excused herself to bed at eight o'clock.

"She's probably really tired," said Gazzy. "Memory gaining must be hard work. I feel really bad for her. She doesn't seem the same around us. She used to be so happy around us."

Iggy stayed behind as they all left, even Fang, and cleared the table, looking down all the while. As he was slipping past me into the kitchen, I saw the pools of water in his eyes, and closed my eyes. _Oh, Iggy, what can I do to help you? How can I fix it between you and Nudge? _

"…_time together is just never quite enough_…" I heard his low voice singing the words almost incoherently, and I felt a surge of sadness bigger than anything I'd ever felt before. "…_tell me darling, do you wish we'd fall in love_..." I disappeared into Fang and my bedroom, but not before hearing a sad sigh escape Iggy's lips.

"I don't know how you can stand to listen to you iPod after what happened with Iggy and Nudge," I said with distain as I walked in on Fang bobbing his head to the music. He turned it off and rolled his eyes. "Max, are we supposed to make ourselves miserable until they get reunited?" he asked me skeptically. "We don't know how long that will be."

"You are so selfish," I glared at him. "It's still too soon to be doing anything happy. It's not right, listening to music like that and bobbing your head like it used to be."

Fang glared right back. "Look, Max, they've been hospitalized, it didn't just start today. You know how shocked I was at first, but listen well. I've hardly done anything to you in two months. This is just torture to me now that Iggy's being a pissy jerk."

I walked over and sat down. I leaned over and kissed him slowly. "You're right. I'm sorry I'm being unfair to you, too. I should let them work out their own problems."

"Uh-huh," said Fang, not really listening as he began unbuttoning my jeans.

**Nudge POV**

I was so surprised. I think I scared everyone with my shock and my abrupt excuse to leave, but I just needed to think. It was just a small kiss. Why was I getting so worked up like this? He was different from the trash that I usually dated, when I was around fourteen or fifteen. Strangely, I had no memory of dates after then. How could someone like him be so totally unaware of how perfect he is? Most guys aware of how cute they are would be totally different, dating girls for ulterior motives.

Why was I having so many feelings for this guy? Of course I had no memories of him, I had just met him today. His face kept flying through my mind, pictures of him that I had never seen before. Why was I humming that familiar melody of that song on the radio? It had more meaning than just a song. It was somehow tied to him, if only in my mind.

Now, laying on my bed and staring at the ceiling, I was realizing just how immature my life had been. I didn't think it would ever go back to that, the way it was earlier in my teen years. But it seemed as though a chunk of my life had been stolen. I only remembered bits and pieces of my life before I blacked out.

I didn't know why, and I didn't know exactly when. But I had lost something, some more memories when I blacked out. I felt so robbed.

Why weren't they telling me everything? Was it to protect me?

What was it that they were keeping from me?

And why was it that Iggy's face kept swimming in my mind?

Was I falling in love…with Iggy?

_So tell me darling, do you wish we'd fall in love?_

_All the time, all the time. _

**Well, I don't have much to say here. Just, hope you enjoyed it. **

**~Rachel**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N- I don't know how much of an abscense I've had, but thanks for reviewing all the same, I take the time to read all the reviews I get. I started and finished this today, so read it while it's new 8D More happens between Nudge and Iggy in this chapter, but I'm not going to ever up the rating on this one. xD**

**Memories of You**

**Chapter 3**

**Nudge POV**

I woke up to the sound of my clock radio blasting some totally random music into my ears. Startled, I shot up, then remembered where I was. The clock read five thirty p.m. _Duh, Nudge_, I thought blurrily_. You're home. With Max and Fang and Gazzy and Angel_. Blinking, I remembered the events of the day before, and realized we weren't the only ones in this house. The one named Iggy was here too. The one who had kissed me. The one who had forced me to fall head over heels, crazy in love with him.

I was still really confused. There were several things I had to remember, I guess. Things that I didn't know about. Things that the others whispered behind my back about. I wanted it to stop, to go back to the way it was, whatever the cost. I seriously had my work cut out for me. _Look for things that spark memories, Nudge_, I commanded myself. Stretching, I rolled myself off the bed, in and out of the bathroom and, finally, into my walk in closet. Browsing through the rows and rows of designer shirts, pants, jeans and many, many shoes, I smiled. This was the thing that I had missed most of all.

I didn't stop to go downstairs until I was fully clad in one of the best outfits I owned. Regardless of my loss of memory, there was no reason why I shouldn't make a good impression on Iggy. He kissed me, after all. Maybe he really did like me back. I smiled inwardly. Today was a good day. I flipped my newly straightened dark brown hair over my shoulder as I walked down the stairs to find everything as it once was. Max and Fang getting all nasty and lovey in the kitchen, Angel kicking Gazzy's ass at whatever game he was playing. Iggy was nowhere to be found. I walked into the kitchen to grab a muffin and a smoothie out of the fridge, loudly clearing my throat as I walked in. Max and Fang broke apart awkwardly, embarrassment on Max's face and a smile stamped on Fang's.

Rolling my eyes, I grabbed my food and made my way back into the living room. It was evening, but it felt like morning, so I might as well treat it like morning. I navigated around chairs, tables, piles of magazines and books, video games, and mismatched furniture to the back of the room where a single desk sat secluded from the rest of the room. I turned on the old computer that sat on it, and waited for it to warm up. I logged in by clicking on my username and typing a password in the box. Just as I clicked on the Internet icon and waited for the homepage, the computer turned off.

I started to yell for Max, when I whirled around to see Fang twirling the plug in one hand. My eyes narrowed. "What the hell was that for, Fang? You'll get your turn when I'm done. Go back to getting nasty in the kitchen with Max," I said in annoyance. I held out my hand for the plug, but he shook his head no. "Why…" I started, then noticed Max pop her head in next to me. I could no longer hear Gazzy's game, and I knew they were listening in. "What's the big idea…?" I asked weakly, already knowing the answer.

"You…you can't be on the computer anymore, Nudge. You have personal information on there, with the stuff you forgot. If you try to remember too hard, you never will. And we don't want you to see it just yet. You can watch TV, but no more personal stuff. So, no computer." She looked down the whole time she was speaking.

"This is so not fair!" I burst out angrily. "You, you, you…you guys are keeping everything from me! Always muttering, always keeping secrets, I want to figure my life out! Why am I having strange feelings about things that I don't remember? Who is Iggy?! You never had lots of friends before, guys, and I never saw Iggy! Why did he kiss me?" I was almost crying now.

Fang and Max exchanged nervous glances. "Sweetie, what do you mean, he kissed you?" inquired Max.

"What do you think it means?!" I spat at her. "What does 'he kissed me' usually mean?" I yelled at her. "I am so confused, and you guys aren't helping anything!" I flew up the stairs to my room and slammed the door like I was twelve years old again. I really didn't care at that point, what else was there to feel ashamed of? Opening my window, I climbed up and into the tree next to it, lowering myself to the ground.

I took off running, faster than I had ever run before.

I didn't know where I was going, but anywhere was better than back there.

I needed something to spark a memory. Something, anything.

Iggy's kiss had brought so many feelings…was I experiencing clouded memories?

Everyone's head turned when I ran past them, breathing heavily as I appeared to be chasing after something and running away from something at the same time. The warm air blew against me as I gained speed, running about five times as fast as anyone else on earth could run. I didn't stop until I was outside the town, far away from anyone else.

Wandering through a field of corn, not caring what I trampled on or ruined, I wondered if I was crazy. What was I supposed to be looking for? What answer could possibly lie in a corn field? I was barely aware of the turning heads inside the cars that rushed by the small town, seeing a teenage girl lost in a corn field, for whatever reason. I didn't see one of them take a picture on their cell phone, and I didn't hear the small children ask, "Mommy, why's she out there? Why?" as they saw me in the dim light of the late afternoon.

As I approached the center of the field, I looked down, shocked at what I saw before me. "I-Iggy?"

**Max POV**

"Why do you keep chasing her away?" Angel asked me bluntly. "She's not an idiot, Max. She knows you're hiding something, and you won't tell her a straight answer, and I'm eleven years old and I could handle this better than you!" her voice had risen.

"You think I need you to tell me that?" I asked wearily. "So, thanks, Angel. I'm doing everything wrong, and screwing up this family. That's just what I needed to hear."

"Oh, shut up, Max," Gazzy finally said. "Don't make this a 'let's pity Max' day. Angel's right, and you know it, so shut up. This is Nudge's problem, it's Nudge we've been worried about, and now we've got to be worried about Iggy, too. You've got a good life, your only problem is Nudge, and you've got Fang who loves you a lot. Don't whine and complain anymore," he rolled his eyes.

"You little shit!" I rounded on him. "You live here! Fang works to pay for you to live here, and I do all the work around here for you to live here! We live in a really nice, expensive house, so forgive me for bitching and complaining when I have to deal with all this shit _and _Nudge!" I exploded. Somewhere inside me though, I wanted to stop, because I had liked what he said. Fang loves me a lot. But I just couldn't stop. I had to keep going.

"Don't talk to Gazzy that way!" screamed Angel. "He's trying to tell you, you have a good life, so don't whine about it! Live it, enjoy it!" she pleaded with us. I know she hates it when we fight.

"It sure didn't seem like it!" I hissed. "You're freaking thirteen, Gazzy! You have no idea how anything in the world works!"

"Max, I've seen things that no one has ever seen before since I was born! I know how everything works more than most people, and I'm not eight years old anymore! Lately, I'm thinking a lot more rationally than you, crazy!" he yelled. "You know, I see your problem now, you're insane! You think it's all about you, _Maximum_."

"She works hard, you know," Angel seethed. "She's worked hard for you for a long time, Gazzy. This is all a mess, and you guys are just making it worse! We need to focus on Nudge and Iggy, before it's too late. Ooooh, you guys!" she clenched her first and concentrated for a few moments, then I slapped myself in the face. I looked over at Gazzy, and he was clutching his head. "Angel!" he growled.

"Hallelujah, the power of mind controlling, suckers!" she threw her hands up and walked downstairs. A few moments later, she poked her head back in. "And, I don't need any more Nudge updates in the future. There's no need to tell me you're fighting again."

"You little brat!" we both cried, and continued holding our heads. Dang, that girl could control minds.

"I'm really sorry, Gazzy," I apologized as I reached out to hug him. "I'm just having a tough time right now."

"I get it," he answered. "But, uh, Max? I'm only a year younger than you and Fang were when you saved the world. Please…just treat me like it, okay?" He smiled brightly when I nodded. He turned around and headed downstairs with Angel.

"Gazzy," I called, and he poked his head up the stairs. "Did you mean what you said, when you said Fang loves me a lot?" I asked honestly. "Yeah, Max," he answered. "He loves you more than anything else in the world. Don't doubt him like that again, okay Max?" he asked. I nodded once again, this time a smile on my face, before he disappeared downstairs again.

As I turned away from him, a pair of strong arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me closer. Fang became visible gain, and leaned down to kiss me passionately. I kissed him back as his lips and mine moved together perfectly. My tongue scraped against his bottom lip, but before anything else could happen, he pulled back to look at me, concern and hurt on his face. "You know that I love you, don't you," he asked me. "You know you're the most important thing in my life, don't you?" I pulled him closer to me. "I thought this was tearing us apart," I began, "But this whole experience is only bringing us closer. …I know now."

**Nudge POV**

"Iggy…what are you doing here?" I began, shocked at finding him here. In the middle of a field. Just laying there on the ground. "Are you alright? I mean, you're okay, right?" He didn't even look up, didn't even open his eyes, just stayed there with his arms back and his eyes closed.

After a moment of awkward silence, I sat down next to him. "Iggy, are you awake?" I asked later, staring at my feet. He nodded once, so I knew he was listening. This was going to take a lot of courage and strength, for me to ask him, for me to tell him. But it was a step I had to take, after all, I was certain there was something very warm and familiar about him, and I was going to tell him, once and for all. "Iggy…did I know you…before the accident?" I asked, finally, and I saw his eyes open.

"Yeah," he answered simply.

"I forgot…you. Everything to do with you…I forgot all of it. I can't remember any of it…but I have an idea. Iggy…I'm in love with you."

He kept perfectly calm. "Yeah?" he asked.

I nodded. "I think… I think I was in love with you before, too. But, then I couldn't remember you because of the plane thing. But I really know everything about you, somewhere in my head." I continued, somehow unable to stop. "Damn it, I knew everything about my life, why couldn't I remember the most important thing?"

Somehow he was pressed up against me then, his lips on mine, and the only thing that I could feel was him. It felt so faintly familiar, having him there, my mouth moving against his, and I realized that this was how it used to be. Floods of memories of moments exactly like this, and other memories too, rushed in, and I was so happy right then. My arms came up to wrap around his neck and pull him closer, and he reached around my waist to hold me there.

"I was in love with you too," he whispered. "I'm still in love with you, Nudge."

"I know," I replied. "Iggy…all the memories are back."

He smiled and pulled me closer again.

**Max POV**

"Where's Iggy?" I grumbled. "It's almost seven and he isn't home, and I'm hungry. He's the only one that can cook around here."

I rummaged through the fridge and found some sandwich meat. I walked over to the counter to make myself a ham and cheese sandwich, apparently it was the best I was going to get around here. "Fang, Gazzy, Angel, Nudge, get in the kitchen! Iggy decided to ditch us, so we're having sandwiches!" I yelled as I prepared their sandwiches too. Stacking twenty-five sandwiches all on a plate, I put it in the center of the table as Angel and Gazzy ran in, followed by Fang. "Where's Nudge?" I asked absently.

I grabbed one of the sandwiches and started eating, but I could barely make sandwiches right. Iggy had been gone all day. I wonder where he went, but he was nineteen. He could take care of himself. Nudge, however, was a problem. She needed to eat and focus on remembering, not on fighting with me. I was trying to help her, damn it.

"I don't know, up in her room?" Gazzy replied. "Well, would you please go get her for me?" I sighed. Gazzy rolled his eyes and ran up the stairs, and down the hall to Nudge's room. After a few moments, he hollered, "Max!" and despite the warning only for me, we all rushed upstairs. There was Gazzy, pointing to an open window, and no Nudge. Angel ran over to the window and looked out. "No! I should have seen this coming, I should have read her mind, I should have made her stop-" I put my hand over her mouth. "It's not your fault," I reassured her, "but we have to find Nudge. And Iggy."

And we all dropped out the window.

"We have no idea where they are," said Fang when we reached the ground. "We need to split up and look for them," he suggested. "They've got to be somewhere around town, and there are four of us."

"How will we know if one of us found her?" asked Angel. "Only you and Max have cell phones, and we don't have walkie-talkies or anything. If one of you finds her, Gazzy and I won't know and we'll be wandering around for hours and hours probably, and then you'll have to come look for us too," she sniffed.

"Gazzy will come with me, you'll go with Max. You'll share her cell phone, and Gaze will share mine. We'll go our separate ways now, we'll go right, and you'll go left. We'll find her, guys." Fang sounded so determined, it was so cute, and it almost made me want to laugh.

I grabbed Angel's hand. "He's right; we'll find Nudge and Iggy. If you don't find them by eight thirty, come back. I don't want you guys to be out late, even if it is Nudge and Iggy. They still have wings, they can still fight, even if they haven't had to in years, got it?"

Fang nodded solemnly and led Gazzy along the right sidewalk, and I took Angel along the left. Walking past small restaurants, businesses and a grocery store, we examined all of Nudge's previous hang-out spots, inquired about her, and each time, they shook their heads no, saying they hadn't seen her, but they hoped she was doing okay. Yeah, yeah.

Angel strained her mind and ears, trying to hear Nudge both physically and mentally. She could pick up nothing from Nudge or Iggy, and she was disappointed. She tried to will them to come home with her mind control, but they were too far away. "We could be going in the wrong direction," she suggested several times.

I always replied, "If Fang and Gazzy find them, they'll call us. Until then, we're going the right way, okay?" and she always had to be content with that. Being summer, the sky was always constantly bright, and we didn't have to switch over to raptor-eyes mode.

Wandering around forever, not knowing a specific destination, and not even dreaming that they wouldn't be in town, we went back to the house, checked all over, and made our rounds around town once again. Nudge and Iggy were nowhere, and I was starting to get worried. I whipped out my cell phone. "Fang?" I asked when it stopped ringing.

"Max," Fang had hope in his voice. "Did you find her?"

"I was actually calling to see if you had."

"I didn't, if it wasn't obvious."

I ignored that comment. "Angel can't hear her, and I can't find her. I'm so worried. It's almost eight o' clock. What if they don't come back, what if Nudge ran away and Iggy's looking for her? I just don't know, Fang…"

"We're going home."

"W-what?"

"You heard me, Max, we're going home. Let them come back when they freaking feel like it, but they don't need to drag the kids into this, too. I'm all for them working out their own problems."

"I can't believe you're being so selfish! That's our family that's missing out there!"

"Yeah, and it's our family who's making us worry about them above everything else. We're not going to find them, Max. Stay out here as long as you want, but remember, you're with Angel, too. She's only eleven. We're going home," he replied, then promptly hung up.

"God damn it!" I yelled into the empty receiver as a few heads turned to look at us. "That dirty bastard, leaving like that," I growled. "Come on, Angel, Fang wants to go home," I grumbled as I dragged her along. Little did I know that the cornfield only a few yards away from us was where Iggy and Nudge were.

**Nudge POV**

I didn't remember when Iggy's shirt landed on the ground around us, or when the rest of our clothes joined it. I didn't remember when Iggy started kissing me all over, and I didn't remember when I became a non-virgin, but all I know was that all of it happened sometime that night, in the cornfield.

I didn't remember when time slipped away, and when all I could see and feel and hear was Iggy. I didn't remember feeling the most incredible feelings ever. I didn't remember falling asleep in his arms.

I didn't remember a lot of things, even right after they happened.

But most of all, I couldn't remember anything when I woke up.

**I'll try not to be more graphic than that for now, I want to stay in the teen rating. Soo, enough? Too much? Too little? Review! xD**

**~Rachel**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N- Hellooooo! I'm back, with another fabulous chapter for you guys. Er, another chapter, really xD Also, I finally got the sixth Maximum Ride book, and I am sososo happy, but I hate Dylan x) Mooooore drama in this chapter, because I love to torture, haha. Also, I have added a new point of view! Please welcome, Angel! **

**Memories of You**

**Chapter 4**

**Max POV**

I paced back and forth across the kitchen as I nervously chewed the ends of my fingernails. They were going to look like hell, but I didn't care. Nudge and Iggy hadn't come back all night, neither one of them. I was so worried I would never see them again, and it was driving me insane. They could be halfway to Canada by now, I was so frightened. Nudge didn't remember anything and we all knew that Iggy was upset about it, but why weren't they back yet? I grimaced furiously.

I listened to whoever was on the other end say something about it having to be more than twenty-four hours before anyone could report someone missing. Meaning they couldn't look for Iggy or Nudge. I was ready to slam the phone on the ground and stomp on it already. Gazzy, Angel and Fang were all on with police officers from three other nearby towns, and I could hear them.

"Um, well, she's African-American with designer clothes and lots of makeup on…well how am I supposed to know? Hang on…" Gazzy wandered into the kitchen. "Hey, Max, Nudge is seventeen, right?" I gave him a nod and he walked back into the other room with the phone, leaving me all alone in the room with my cell phone and an idiot.

"Look, man, they're missing!" Fang yelled into the receiver as he stalked into the kitchen for something out of the fridge. He yanked the door open, found nothing, and slammed it shut again as whoever was on the other end told Fang to perform a physically impossible act on himself. "Go to hell!" he swore as he slammed the phone shut. I gave him a pointed look. How were we ever going to find Nudge and Iggy if he was going to piss off whoever was trying to help us?

"Yeah, it's a white guy and a black girl," I sighed wearily to the monkey who was trying to help me. "Well, yes, they're together," I added. "And…yes, they've been gone since last night." I paused as he made certain unmentionable comments. "Pig," I glared a few seconds later and snapped my phone shut. "Angel, are you having any luck-" I trailed off as she held up a finger and walked in. Fang and I waited eagerly –or what would have been eagerly if we had more energy- for an answer.

"Well, it's been a little less than twenty hours…" she began impatiently yet sweetly to the other end of the phone. "If you could just please help me, they're my only family…" she lied through her teeth. "Without them I'll be an orphan…" she glared as they didn't buy it, and got this weird concentrating look on her face. A minute later she hung up.

"They won't help us," she announced, "and it turns out I can't control minds over the phone."

**Nudge POV**

I blinked slowly as my eyes opened and adjusted to the light. I was so warm, I closed my eyes again, thinking I was in my bed at home. But as I rolled over in what I thought was my bed, I felt a pair of arms tightening around me, around my bare, unclothed skin. And the arms were bare too. Following up the rest of them, I could make out muscled arms and shoulders that were bare too.

I sat up and blinked again. My sweaty hair was all over my head and matted with dirt. My whole body was caked with dirt sticking to dried sweat. I had no clothes on at all, and I was sitting in the middle of what looked like the middle of the cornfield. I rubbed my eyes and looked down.

I screamed.

A strawberry-blonde boy was on the ground next to me. His hair was plastered to his forehead with dried sweat, and there was dirt on his body too. He, too, was completely naked. This was so not good. I started to panic. What had happened? What had I done? Why couldn't I remember?

He jolted upright, saw my terrified expression, and reached out and grabbed my hand. I blinked and jerked away. "Nudge?" he asked, and I relaxed some. He knew me.

…But I didn't know him.

It clicked then. "How do you know my name? What are you doing here? Who are you? _What did you do to me?!_" I shrieked at him. He sat and stared, dumbfounded, for all of ten seconds before he started cowering under my rage. "Did you _strip _me? Have you no shame? This…this is illegal? You're going to jail…did anything happen? Did we…did we…did we have…?" I was trembling.

"Yes!" he threw up his hands. "Yes, Nudge, we had sex. Are you happy?"

"No!" I cried, and I threw my hands up. "You…you…you pig! You stole my virginity? Probably drugged me, got me drunk! Where were we? In a bar!? What…did…you…do?!" I was filled with rage. I grabbed a shirt that I recognized as one of mine, and immediately grabbed it and started beating him with it. He winced as I hit him over and over, even though I wasn't really hurting him. "Get out! Go! Leave me my sanity! Do you think it's _okay, _taking advantage of women this way? Why don't you say something?!"

He sat, dazed and cowering under my rant. "Yeah…wait, no! I meant, no!" He scrambled to his feet. "For God's sake, put some clothes on!" I shrieked at him as he hurried with all of his clothes. He was dressed in two seconds, as was I. "I'm calling the cops, and you're going to jail!" I seethed, then walked away.

He caught me by my wrist. "Nudge, how could you not remember? I never did that before either, you were my first! I waited so long for that, and it was the best night of my life, and you don't remember it?" he wondered more quietly.

"W-what?" I turned around to face him again.

**Max POV**

I was furious. Absolutely, terribly, Maxtasticly furious. Pacing back and forth, I was going crazy in my head. It was almost noon and they weren't back yet. Something had to be done. I marched into the living room. "Guys, we have to go back and look for them. I'm so worried, I can barely think, and they're our family, we have to-"

Fang, Gazzy and Angel caught me in a group hug. "Let's go find them," Fang smiled at me, and I felt happiness, despite the fact that my family was falling apart. "I know where to start," he told us. "Angel, how would you like to try your mind-controlling on those stupid-ass cops?" He grinned wickedly, and she pumped a fist in the air.

Not fifteen minutes later, we were down at the police station. Fang, Gazzy, Angel and I were in the back room with the door locked behind us. Fang pinned one of them up against the wall by their shirt collar. He grinned the most terrible, terrifying, badass grin he could muster, and it was enough to scare the guy out of his pants, but he wasn't nearly scared enough. So Fang took it up a notch.

"I'm going to ask you nicely," he smiled in a chillingly calm voice. "You help us find our family now, or so help me…" the smile was gone now. The guy, who probably had no friends when he was a kid, the big ugly nerd, raised his eyebrows at the threat. "You, sir, are threatening an officer of the law…" he began, but I stopped him.

"Let's put it this way," I offered. "You help us search now, or you're never having kids again, I'll make sure of that, and I'll use your left arm to beat you so hard that you'll give in even before we let Angel use her special stuff on you." The guy grimaced. "Special…?"

Immediately his eyes became blank as a washed chalkboard, and his face was clean of all emotion except obedience. "We want you to find our family," Angel began. "You'll never tell anyone that we threatened you. And you won't rest until you find them for us, if it lasts your whole life," she said cheerfully. Repeating everything she said in a senseless monotone, he kept his eyes on Angel the whole time.

"You…you go with him. I'll fly up and look for them myself," I said. No one in our town had ever known that we had saved the world. After lying low, we made sure that we just became regular people. I snuck out at night and flew in secret sometimes, but I don't think anyone ever saw us. I wasn't going to blow it that day. I used my wings and blew out of that office with supersonic speed, a blur to anyone who saw me. They would think it was a trick of their eyes.

Once I was above the clouds, I slowed down until I could see perfectly clear with my raptor-vision, thank God for it, or else I wouldn't be able to see anything. It was the best, being able to fly again, but I reminded myself that it was about Nudge and Iggy now, and I continued to look for them as the hours wore on. Once I even passed the flock, searching with that cop, but still without Nudge or Iggy.

On the outskirts of town, I stopped and freefell until I was able to land and fold my wings in. Walking along the road, I was ready to give up. All that was out here were cornfields, anyway. Like I would find Iggy and Nudge in a cornfield.

**Nudge POV**

"Am I supposed to remember you? I…I've never met you! I've never even seen you before, and you're telling me you know me? You…you know my name. Big deal. You don't know me. You don't know anything about me." My voice grew harder and louder. "You're probably just some pathetic stalker that took advantage of me and got me drunk or something so we could get it on in the freaking cornfield." My voice was harsh to his ears, and when he recoiled, I smiled inwardly, knowing I had hurt the bastard.

"Nudge, I never mean to hurt you, but you've been having some memory loss after that accident…"

"What the heck? What accident? I've been living at home with my family. I'm going home, and I just got out of school for the summer. I-it's May 23rd, right? What are you saying? I don't know who you are! Leave me the hell alone!" I turned around to leave, and I saw the figure of my older sister, Max, walking along the road, tired and worn out.

"Max!" I called out and ran over to her. She looked shocked to see me, but I don't blame her. I was all sweaty and dirty, I bet I looked totally horrible. She took one look at Iggy behind me and glared at him. "I know!" I said. "Max, this freak said that he knew me! He said all sorts of things, he took advantage of me…I don't even know him! He's saying sad things about an accident, and he's probably just some stalker who likes me."

Max gaped for a minute. "Iggy, you are going to die. I want you to go home now, and stay there, because you're grounded until you're forty," she said calmly. "And Nudge, I'm really sorry that that _idiot _did that to you."

It was my turn to gape. "Do you know him?" I asked. "Is what he said true?"

Max smiled grimly. "It is, Nudge. It really is."

**Max POV**

"I can't believe he did that." I shook my head as I sat on the front porch steps next to Fang. "He totally took advantage of whatever moment he had with her. She wasn't ready for that, and he should have seen that coming. Ugh, that pig." I huffed. Fang raised his eyebrow at me. I sighed. I knew Iggy had been waiting forever, and he really missed Nudge, but this had just caused a bigger mess. Now I had to deal with the non-virgin, non-remembering Nudge. Great.

"You gotta give it time," sighed Fang. "She'll remember, I know she will. We just have to give her time. It's only been a few days."

I knew he was right. "This is screwing us all up. Our sense of family, my relationship with Nudge, Iggy and the kids, everything. Even you and me. We don't even have time together anymore, and I love you," I admitted in a small voice. "I'm so worried that I'm doing everything wrong."

"You've always been the best leader for the flock," Fang reminded me. "When it comes right down to it, you saved the world, Max. When Angel wanted to be the leader and went against you, you fixed it. When you and I split up five and a half years ago, you fixed it. When Erasers were chasing after us, people were experimenting on us, and we didn't have a home, you were always with us, Max. You won't do worse now."

"What a very long, un-Fang-like speech, Fang," I mused. "We talk too much, I guess." And he leaned in to kiss me, for what felt like the first happy time in months.

**Angel POV**

Well, shit. This was messed up. I mean, I'm only eleven, but I know how way more stuff works. It felt like so many years since Max and Fang saved the world and got married and all that, but it was really only five and a half years. Iggy had slept with Nudge, Nudge didn't remember and was confused, and Max had to deal with it and that wasn't fair to Max at all.

I still thought I could deal with it all, if Max would just let me. She just doesn't get it. I could do it and handle so much better than her, just because I'm younger doesn't mean I'm not more capable. I'm stoic. I'm strong. I'm anything but what Max has been lately, and I don't like it. I'm so responsible enough to make sure it all works out, and she knows it.

I'm not trying to make Max sound like the bad guy here. I love her and I respect her, but she's been doing this for so many years that I'm so worried she'll crack, because no one's taken care of her since she was ten years old. I'm tired of her being the mom. That while that I was the boss was better than anything, in my opinion. But why would they listen? When Max came back, it was like they were all for her.

All I knew they was that I had to be strong. Even if only one person was strong, it would still work. I knew that Max was crumbling, Gazzy was trying and failing at being strong, and Fang was holding out so far. How much longer would it last? You don't hear Fang's thoughts, which are a lot less calm and collected than he normally is. Heck, Fang could be considered a royal spazz in his most inner thoughts.

What I remember is that the house was really quiet that day. When I walked into the kitchen, I just found Gazzy sitting alone at the kitchen table staring out the window. When I went over to sit down next to him, he looked at me like he was looking right through me, and almost to the air, he said, "Why does life have to suck now, when everything was going good?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, tilting my head to the side.

"I mean, everything was really okay. No one knows we even exist anymore, we're doing fine. Max and Fang would have gotten married or something, the same goes for Iggy and Nudge. Now everything's ruined, and between you and me, I'm not so sure it's not permanent."

"What are you talking about? Of course it's not permanent."

"What if it's like that disease, Alzheimer's or something. She could remember sometimes, but it would never be permanent." He grabbed my shoulders and shook me as his voice grew more panicky. "What if it's like that, Angel?!"

"Okay, one, calm down," I ordered. "Two, we're all sure she'll remember, okay? It's what's keeping us strong, so shut up that kind of talk. We don't need to get Max more upset." He gave a nod. "O-okay. Thanks anyway." He grabbed a can of pop from the fridge and trudged off miserably. I'd rarely been so sorry for him. He was taking this harder than he was supposed to.

I took a deep breath and walked up the stairs to Nudge's room. I had to talk to her, because she still remembered the flock, but she still couldn't remember Iggy. Again, because she had been thinking so much about him before the amnesia. I needed to find out for myself the exact extent of this amnesia she was having. I turned the doorknob slowly to find Nudge lying on her bed, in fresh clothes and wet hair, with a magazine and a can of Coke.

She looked up when she saw me in the doorway. "Oh hi, Angel. C'mon in," she offered. She scooted over until she was on the other end of the bed to let me sit down.

"I have something to ask you," I said once I sat down. "That boy, in the cornfield that Max told me about…do you not remember him from anywhere? I mean, are you sure you don't know him? You don't remember anything?"

Nudge's face became like stone, and her eyes narrowed. "I don't remember him," she insisted. "I can't remember anything about him. I'm sure he took advantage of me, Angel. I…I really don't like to remember. It was really hard for me in the cornfield. It was all so private, and I don't even know him. I'm trying to be strong about this, because it's not like I can remember it." Her voice cracked.

"I'm sorry I said anything," I apologized.

"Don't be," she argued. "You know what's weird, though, Angel? I keep feeling like I know all of you guys, but when I think of my memories of you, there's something missing. Like there's something about one of you that I keep forgetting." She laughed. "But that's silly. I know everything about all of you." I laughed with her, even if it was as untrue as saying that Gazzy had a normal digestive system. This wasn't the end of the discussion, I thought as I closed the door.

Still, I couldn't help but feel hopeful at what she had said.

_When I think of my memories of you, there's something missing._

**Nudge POV**

What was that all about? I didn't want to remember anything, didn't that brat get it? Had she ever been taken advantage of by some random dude, and have to put on a strong face for everyone despite your crumbling feelings inside? What was wrong with me? I had been feeling messed up all morning, and until Angel's little visit, I had almost forgotten everything, lost in the world of fashion magazines and cute outfits and Coke. Make that, _my _world, the way it always had been. My world didn't include that strawberry-blonde boy.

I flopped down on the bed as tears ran down my face. Curse Max and Fang and Gazzy. Curse Angel. Curse that guy who took advantage of me. Curse the whole freaking world.

Closing my eyes, I gasped out loud, but I didn't dare open them, as memories played on the inside of my eyelids. And I mean, every memory that I could remember now. Memories of the strawberry blonde one.

Memories of Iggy.

If I was going to remember, I never pictured it to be like this. I was crying as I flipped through an old photo album of mine. I could see him in all the pictures, as clear as day. I remembered everything about him, from his love of bombs to his dry humor.

I couldn't wait to see him again.

**Max POV**

I opened the door angrily and stamped my foot. "Where the hell were you?" I nearly shouted. "I found you and Nudge hours ago in that damn cornfield! Where did you go?" I demanded harshly to a miserable Iggy standing right in front of me. I had been worried sick about him for hours and this is the payment I get, him showing up on my doorstep hours later. I have such a great family.

"Where do you think? At the neighborhood bar getting hammered," he replied easily.

"What?!" I shouted, almost jumping out of my skin. "You did what now? You're…you're not even twenty-one, Ig! How the heck did you get anything to drink? It's illegal!"

Iggy snorted. "It doesn't have to be legal when you're this tall and you look this miserable. What can I say? The blind guy has this effect on people."

"Nudge still doesn't remember," I pulled him inside, speaking tonelessly.

"I know she doesn't. Why the heck do you think I was drinking in the first place?"

"She'll remember. It's been three days."

He slammed a fist into a wall, but lightly, thankfully, so it didn't exactly slam _into _the wall. "Max, you keep saying that, and I don't believe you. The more you say it, the more it seems like it's never gonna happen," he sighed. "What am I going to do? Just move on?"

"Ella's coming over later," I offered quietly.

His eyes narrowed. "Are you still on this? You always used to go on and on about how I would be better with Ella, but I know it's only because it would be less weird for you. Think about how weird it is for all of us that you're sleeping with Fang!"

That stung. "Whatever. She'll be here in a few minutes. I might as well tell you now." I got up and walked away.

**Angel POV**

The best thing about our house is that there's a balcony right above our living room, and my room is upstairs, near Nudge's. I can see everything going on downstairs and no one will ever see me. But…sometimes I see things I don't what to see. Like what I saw that day, for example.

Ella had gotten there later that afternoon. Max and Fang were gone to a movie, and Gazzy was with his friends. Nudge was somewhere sulking, no doubt. Of course I was in the house, but I was only eleven. That means that once Ella got there, she was alone with Iggy. My job was to make sure that nothing happened.

Ella always loved Iggy. Ever since she met him, she thought he was the perfect guy, and to be honest, he really is. I love Iggy. Out of all of us, he's always been the best-natured about dealing with the hardest. But he's just the best for Nudge, and he always will be, and not even Ella can change that. As she grew older, she had become more and more of a little slut, and I knew what she'd do to Iggy if she got the chance.

They sat in the living room awkwardly for a few minutes, with absolutely no idea that I was there watching them. "Soo," Ella said after a while.

"So," Iggy said right back, unenthusiastically. Score one for Nudge.

"It must be hard, about Nudge," Ella began. Iggy nodded, and she pressed on. "I'll be honest and blunt with you, Iggy," she started as she moved to sit on the couch next to him. Uh-oh. "I don't think Nudge will be okay. I don't think she'll ever remember," Ella said with fake sadness. "A-are you okay with that?"

"I don't know," Iggy said blankly.

Ella tried again. "Iggy…I'll be honest…I think you have to let her go. I know you have history, but…but so do we. You need someone who will stay loyal and never get hurt. Iggy, I…I think I could be that someone," she whispered, and trailed her forefinger along his arm.

Iggy kept a straight face, even though I could hear his thoughts, some of which were not me-appropriate, and I knew that Ella was a pretty girl. But he also loved Nudge. _Don't let her win,_ I prayed in my own mind.

Ella leaned forward and brought her lips to his and pressed herself into him. He pulled her closer, much to my horror, and she parted her lips with a gasp as he ran his tongue along her bottom lip. I gagged to myself, wanting to stop it, but I was frozen to the spot. She was practically sitting in his lap now, with her fingers in his hair and his arms around her waist. This was so wrong. I knew that after months, Iggy needed someone, but this was all too much. "Iggy," she whispered, "Is anyone home?"

"No," he whispered back, lying through his Ella-covered lips.

"Is…_Nudge_ home?"

"No," he answered her.

"Do you…" her voice trailed off to my ears as I picked up on another thought.

_Oh, my God. OH MY GOD. No. No, no. Oh, Jesus. _

Tears ran down Nudge's face as she ran past me, down the stairs and out of the house.

**Sorry for Ella's bitchy-ness, but on the bright side, this is my longest chapter ever written! I's so happy, bwahaha. Revieeeew! x)**

**~Rachel**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N-Well, this has become my most popular story in such a short amount of time, so I'm posting this chapter rather early. It took me a while, I have such a headache. My new braces are hell. If you read my first MR story, you'd know that a while ago, I got my wisdom teeth out. So, this is hell, part two. xD Enjoy this chapter. **

**Memories of You**

**Chapter 5**

**Angel POV**

I watched her run down the stairs and out the door. I heard her agonized thoughts, and I knew she remembered everything, and Ella had ruined it all. I had never wanted to kill anyone so much, and this was Max's sister. If I were to leap on her and strangle her now, I would give away my position and give Max an excuse to send me away forever. So I stayed where I was, even though it was killing me inside.

Iggy ripped himself away from Ella and stared after Nudge in shock and horror at what he had done. He had let Ella get to him, and he couldn't undo it. Only one day after sleeping with Nudge, I was so ashamed of him. _Iggy, is that the kind of person you are? _I thought blankly to myself.

Ella stared silently at the door, but tightened her arms around Iggy. Still sitting in his lap, his arms were still around her, she was desperately trying to salvage the last few moments before Nudge had seen it all. "Iggy," she whispered, "remember what I just told you? She's wrong for you. She doesn't remember you. She was crying because she was falling in love with you without her memories. It's just a crush." She soothed him, but he was unresponsive.

"I love you, Iggy," she breathed. "I'm here now. Let me take her place," she urged him, and rested her head on his shoulders, and convinced me that she really did care for him. But I would never choose Ella over Nudge. Never, never. Nudge was my family, and she had always been there for me. I would sooner go to hell than let Ella win. But then, I thought to myself, she's already winning.

I sighed with resignation as Iggy closed his eyes and made his final decision. "I guess that everyone loses their first love sometimes," Iggy stated. "I love you," he added, but it was like he was trying to convince himself. "And I've known you for so long, Ella. L-let's try it with us." Ella's happy smile could have melted Satan's heart, but I just sat there and glared down at her.

And she brought her lips back to his hastily, their lips mashing awkwardly together as their grips tightened around one another. Their closeness as they continued made me want to throw up, and when Ella asked, "Iggy, where's your room?" I couldn't take it anymore. I leapt off the railing and dropped at their feet. They seemed genuinely surprised to see me. Or, Ella did. Iggy didn't know what the heck happened.

"You little slut!" I screamed at Ella. "He just slept with my _sister, _and you think you can just take advantage of him right now when he's loved Nudge ever since he was fifteen? He doesn't know what he's thinking, but _you _do. You no good slimy idiot, crawl back into the hole that you slithered out of and leave my brother alone!"

I whirled on Iggy. "And I'm ashamed of you, letting her get to you so easily! I heard everything, you lying pig, and you know you love Nudge! She just ran away and you're here making out with this dog? Get off your ass and go get her!" I couldn't believe the words coming out of my eleven-year-old mouth. I turned around and yanked the door open to chase after Nudge. What hurt the most were the tears in my eyes as I heard Iggy tell Ella, "Don't listen to her. She doesn't know what she's talking about."

So, Iggy, you've chosen her.

**Nudge POV**

I ran out of there faster and faster, and didn't look back. There was no way I was ever going back to that place of hell if I had to see him there making out with Ella day in and day out from now on. I thought he loved me and that was why the whole cornfield thing had happened, but apparently I wasn't worth his time, and she was. Fine. I hope they're happy together.

I finally remembered and he was going to do this to me. I couldn't believe him. Not to mention that Angel had been sitting there and letting it happen. My brain was working super fast. I figured I could be halfway around the world in a day or two of flying, far away from them. I was sure as heck never going back there after what had just happened. Let him come after me, or let him stay there, it didn't matter. He couldn't change what he had done.

I soared up above the clouds and looked back, only to see Angel speeding like a rocket after me. I turned back and went faster, ignoring her completely. I kept a straight face as she pulled up beside me. "Get away from me," I hissed. "You just let him do it. You just sat there and let her get to him. And he fell for it! He loves her too!" I screamed at her. There were tears in my eyes by now.

"I was in shock! I'm eleven years old, what the heck did you want me to do?! I never meant for that to happen, and I yelled at them so bad that five houses over probably heard me! They completely ignored me, Nudge? Do you think I didn't want to see you and Iggy together, with you and Iggy and Max and Fang as our parents? I can't do anything about it!" she was crying, too.

I hung my head. "I'm not going back," I decided. "I don't want to be around it anymore. My life has changed so much from what it used to be, I'm so afraid I won't be able to fix it, Angel. It's over. I'll leave Iggy alone, and he can have whatever life he wants. I don't have to be in it."

"And just where do you plan to go?" she shrieked. "Where are you going to live, Nudge? How will you get food?"

"How did we get food for years?" she answered. "Where did we live for years, Angel? We lived alone. We found desert rats, or scavenged in dumpsters. I can be good with anything. Do you think it matters to me anymore? The one thing I had, the one thing that matters, is in the arms of Ella, and there's nothing I can do about it. I'm tired, Angel. Tired of fighting. She can have him, if this is how easily he gives up."

"Enough of your little pity party!" she exclaimed. "I'm tired of it! Iggy waited so long for you, and when you finally remembered, he slept with you and you forgot him! I don't blame him for being tired either, but both of you have to try! You can _not_ give up like this, Nudge! Pick up the pieces of your shattered heart and _try harder!_"

I stared her down. Part of me thought she was right, but part of me knew I wanted to sleep forever, and I felt a thousand years old. I couldn't deal with this anymore. The last thing Angel would see was me speeding off into the distance.

**Max POV**

I unlocked the door to the house and came in with Fang and Gazzy, laughing like crazy. "It's true!" Gazzy said excitedly. "It's awesome, Fang! How surprised were those guys when they tried to pick up the quarter and it was hot-glued to the floor?!" he cackled with delight. I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw Ella and Iggy. Together, on the same couch. No, they weren't doing anything couple-y. But it looked very suspicious.

"Where are Angel and Nudge?" I asked casually, even though I was freaking out.

"That's what we've been meaning to tell you," Ella said, purposely interlacing her fingers with Iggy's. My eyes widened, and I felt sick. No. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. "Iggy and I were…together…" Ella hesitated, "and Nudge kind of saw us and ran out. A-angel ran after her."

"What?" I almost growled, and strode over to Ella. I picked her up by her shirt collar. "What are you talking about? What did you do to Iggy? He's in love with Nudge! She could remember him any day now!" I hissed at her, and she looked frightened, but she kept a poker face for the most part.

"As if," she managed to snort. "She was never going to remember him. Don't you want Iggy to be happy, Max? Iggy's happy with me! Nothing terribly like that will ever happen to me. Just leave us alone!" She had the courage to hurl those last words at me.

"Listen, you little brat," I growled at her. "Iggy's my brother. I want him to be happy more than anyone, but no one hurts my sister, you got that? I'm leaving this alone for now, because there's nothing I can do. I want Iggy to be happy, like I said before. But if Nudge comes back, there'll be hell to pay."

"If?" Ella raised one eyebrow. "You don't think she'll come back, do you, Max?" I reddened and threw her back on the couch, then stalked out of the room.

**Nudge POV**

_Letter to Max_

_Max, I saw what happened between Iggy and Ella. I'm writing this to tell you it's going to be hard for me to live without all of you, but I just can't do it anymore. I can't deal with it if I forget again and Iggy's not with me. I know it will probably happen, but I want to be alone. It's going to be much harder if you follow me and force me to come home, and I'll be much more unhappy. If you care about me, please respect what I'm trying to tell you. _

_I remember when I'm writing this right now. Tell Iggy I'll always love him, but it'll be better and more stable for him if he's with Ella. I don't blame Ella for liking him. I mean, he's a great guy. I don't blame Angel, either, but I need to be on my own. _

_The thing is, Iggy can't change what he did, and I don't think I'll be able to forget it. It really hurt, and I don't want to relive the memory more than I have to. If I ever see him again, I'll fall in love with him all over again. So, try your best to keep him there. _

_Tell Fang and Gazzy and Angel that I love them. I didn't want to leave them. I don't know where I'll be, or where you can find me. It'll be somewhere far, far away, to be sure you can't find me. _

_This is the hardest thing I've ever done. It's the most grown-up thing I've ever been forced to do. I still wish it would have worked out between Iggy and me. I love him more than anything. Thanks for helping me all those years. _

_~Nudge _

I looked down at the short letter that I had finished writing. There were small tear drops all over it, and I laughed at how cliché it was. I smoothed it out and sealed it in the envelope. I slid Max's window open and dropped it on the bed. I inched up to sit on the roof of our house, the home that I had known for four and a half years. This was really goodbye, and as much as I hated to admit it, it was probably for good.

Standing up and sparing one last glance at it, I spread my wings and jumped off all three stories of memories. The tears were still in my eyes as I flew off.

**Max POV**

"We have to find her," I paced back and forth across the carpeted floor of my room as Fang sat on the bed, rereading the letter for the hundredth time that day. "She's out there somewhere, and I don't care if her sorry ass wants to be saved, we have to save her. Iggy has to find her. We have to…we have to…" I huffed as I sat down next to Fang.

"Most grown-up thing she's ever been forced to do my ass," Fang grumbled. "She couldn't even tell us to our faces. Iggy doesn't even know that she remembers him. This is another huge mess that we need to fix."

"Would you focus? We need to get Nudge back! She can't be on her own, it's too dangerous, and Ella needs to leave…" my voice trailed off helplessly.

"Are you done?" Fang waited patiently for my nod. "I don't think she should come back. If she's feeling this bad, the best thing for her is to be alone. If Iggy wants to go get her, he will. Until then, see it from Ella's side and put up with it. Okay?"

"But, Nudge is all alone…"

"Nudge can take care of herself. She's seventeen years old."

"For Nudge's sake, I hope you're right."

**Angel POV**

I sat in one of the largest trees in the park, glaring down on everything and everything that didn't bother to look up and see me. That cheating bastard had turned his back on me and Nudge for that little slut he didn't even know. He had forgotten about her in a heartbeat. How could he? This was bigger than her little kiss, or his broken heart, even. Nudge remembered and he threw it away, just like that.

And I didn't know what I was talking about? I was the one who had to be stoic, hold together, even if everyone else wasn't. He was losing his marbles about this Ella thing, and I was the one who didn't know what I was talking about?!

Oh, but those idiots forgot how evil I can be. Even I remember the days when I could mind-control an Eraser into falling to its death, cheat the law, turn my back on anything, and cause someone's world to crumble and fall with one sarcastic word as well as Max herself. Yeah, I was good. They picked the wrong person to upset this time.

I had caused Max emotional pain all the time back then, and she was someone that I loved. Imagine what I could do to someone that I hated.

Operation Make-Ella's-Life-a-Living-Hell was about to being.

**Nudge POV**

I stopped for a break in a small gas station in California. I looked at the small amount of money I had with me. If I had remembered any money from home when I ran, I could have bought a lot of food and something to carry it, but I only had ten dollars in my jacket. There was no way I was going back there. I groaned as I remembered that I was really close to Hollywood, and _everything_, even the food, was really expensive around there.

I walked inside slowly, running right to where they kept the high-calorie snacks. I needed something to get me through the day. I settled on a bag of chips, a protein bar, and a bottle of water for the hot sun, and waited for the cashier to give me my change. When I walked out into the sun, I was instantly ambushed.

Cameras clicked wildly around me as reporters and the guys holding the cameras buzzed anxiously around them. Their expressions were a mix of excitement and the need to get at me first, and their eyes betrayed greed and hunger. I knew exactly why they were here. No one had ever found out where the flock had disappeared after it saved the world, and we had thought we were safe in that medium-small town where my family lived.

"Nudge!" shouted one. "You are Nudge Ride, from the famous flock of bird kids that disappeared mysteriously almost six years ago, aren't you?"

"Where's Max and the rest of the flock?" one piped up. "Are you here on another mission to save the world?" Dang, these people had imaginations.

I took a deep breath and plowed past them. "I don't know what you're talking about," I gasped. "Who's Max, and what are you saying about a flock?" I made my eyes so genuinely surprised, they backed off just a little bit. "I have to go. My family's waiting," I said, and walked through the mob.

That wasn't the end. I felt something grab me by my jacket, and yank it up to reveal the slits in the back. "She's lying," declared one of them. "The slits in this jacket are for her wings to come out. She is Nudge from the flock. She fits the description perfectly."

"Let go of me!" I exploded, and wrenched myself away from the guy. I got him with a roundhouse kick to the chest, knees, and crotch. He fell over, and I smiled with satisfaction. "Anyone else want to try that?" I challenged.

"So you can still fight," one said eagerly. "Tell us, Nudge, where's the rest of the flock, or are you really on your own?"

"I'm not telling you where they are," I brushed past them. "I left them. They're not with me, but I'm not telling you where they are."

"Tell us the story," one begged. "You must want to tell someone, and we're the only ones you have to tell." I growled at him, when I realized he was right. "You don't have to give out their personal information, but America has been waiting years to know what happened with you guys. You all, you're their heroes. You at least owe them some information."

I could have given him a million reasons why I owed him nothing. My heart had been stamped on so many times, I didn't care about America or anyone in it right now. But that didn't change the fact that I had a story to tell, a story they wanted to hear, and a story I needed to get out of me right here and now. "The story, huh?" I asked, not turning around. "Well then…"

**Angel POV**

The next day, Nudge, our Nudge, was on the cover of every magazine in the country. People, Oprah, Star, the National Enquirer, the list went on as I picked up every magazine at the checkout line at Wal-Mart. With titles like "The Flock's Nudge Ride Returns", "Nudge – The Heartbreaking Truth", and "The Bird Kids are Back", I was completely appalled. Where was Nudge, and how did they find out about her? It wasn't like I could read minds from far away.

I held the magazine up to a random person who picked up the same issue. "What's this about? What happened?"

"You mean you don't know?" she wondered aloud. "One of those bird kids came out and told everyone the truth. The only thing she didn't tell was about the rest of them. Don't you watch the news? She's all over everything. I think they found her in California somewhere. She's gonna be quite the celebrity."

I had turned pale. I threw the magazine down and ran out of the store. Quick as a flash, I whipped out some money for the pay phone. "Max?" I asked finally as she picked it up. "We're in trouble."

**Max POV**

I flipped on the TV. We might as well see what we were up against. That girl better not have told them where we lived, or by this time tomorrow, fifty reporters would be dead and I would be in jail. Right there, my jaw dropped. I closed it with my hand. Nudge was on the TV. On Oprah. In front of the whole freaking world. On Oprah.

"So, why did you decide to leave your flock?" Oprah asked politely.

"Well, I lost my memory a few months back in an accident, and I was in a coma. I just found remembering what happened to be too unstable, as in, my memory comes and goes. So I figured I was better off on my own, at least until I know how long my memory's gonna last." Oprah looked touched, and wiped a fake tear out of her eye.

"And you've decided not to give the whereabouts of your flock yet?" she asked casually. Nudge shook her head no.

"They don't deserve that. That's why they're living in secret, because otherwise, the reporters would attack them again. I can't do to them."

"I understand. So, what made you talk to those reporters at that gas station, Nudge?"

"They must have known I'd be there, because when I got out, they were just waiting for me. I was literally ambushed. It was really freaky."

"So, where are you staying? Not in the forests again, I hope!" The audience laughed with her.

"No, the publicity people gave me a room in a fancy hotel," Nudge smiled. "With real food, too. That was really nice."

"Well, Nudge, it sounds like you're off on another adventure." She smiled at Nudge. "We'll talk more with Nudge Ride of the flock when we come back."

I flipped off the TV, walked into the bedroom and shook Fang awake. "Wake up, Fang," I ordered. "We're going to California. Start packing."

**Weeeeeeeeeeeellllllll? xDDD Review~**

**~Rachel**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N-A new chapter! I'm so happy you guys are really reviewing, I read each one and it means so much, so thanks to all who review! ^_^ I wrote this all in one day, and it's a couple hundred words shorter, I'm sorry! I'll make up for it next chapter :D**

**Memories of You**

**Chapter 6**

**Nudge POV**

I woke up in the morning –and I'll say it right now, there will be no Kesha reference- to find myself sitting in the same high-class hotel, the same penthouse suite, the same luxury hotel room, the same high-definition TV staring me down. If I had to be anywhere without the rest of the flock, this was more like it. I had always wanted to live like this, but, you know. Being hunted + no money + a dog = no hotel for Nudge.

The suite was very spacious. It wasn't like the average motel room we stayed in, either. Two huge queen sized beds in a grand bedroom, with a sitting room and a mini-kitchen, with a bathroom to die for. Over forty floors up, I could probably see all of California from where I was staring out the window, and I could definetly see the beaches. Hello, Nudge, they said.

I had gotten people to buy me things yesterday, what with all the publicity and money I was getting. I couldn't believe it. I had been all over the news, in magazines, on Oprah. I was a regular celebrity, something that I had always wanted to be. It was really amazing. All of a sudden, they were getting me things. If I had snapped my fingers, I could have ordered a French poodle in a bow or Justin Bieber in chains for my own personal use. Well, he was a little too young for me, but whatever.

It was almost enough to get me to forget about Iggy in the arms of that toad.

Almost.

Whatever. I had a bunch of things I had to do today, a bunch of people I had to greet. It had been one day, and at the rate I was going, I could have been meeting the president and having tea with the queen of England by tomorrow. I couldn't waste my time worrying about it. If I stopped to worry about it, I would have cried. And this was a problem that I couldn't just fix.

I hopped off the bed and walked over into the bathroom, closing the door and walking up to the sink to splash some cold water onto my face. The bathroom was almost as large as the bedroom, with an absolutely huge shower and a whirlpool tub. You couldn't blame me for checking to make sure it was all real. Never mind that despite it all, I would have liked to be back in my home, with my –well, -ex, now,- boyfriend.

I had barely managed to make it through the shower, get dressed and straighten my hair when I heard a soft knock on the door. "It's open!" I yelled loudly, which may have been a bad idea, considering that I was in the bathroom, and that was kind of uncomfortable. "I mean, uh, I'm not doing anything, so you can come in," I squeaked.

"Hey, Nudge," said a woman with a business suit and a clipboard with her, and glasses that made her look professional and commanding. I remembered her vaguely from yesterday. She was one of those people who had driven me around, bought me clothes and taken me to photoshoots and that thing with Oprah. "You may or may not remember," she informed me, "but I was with you yesterday, one of those 'publicity people'. I'm here to take you where you need to get today."

"And where exactly are you taking me today?" I asked nonchalantly as I brushed my teeth. "You shouldn't talk down to me, I'm not really a kid anymore," I rolled my eyes and a clump of toothpaste-spit fell out of my mouth. "Eh, oops," I said as I cleaned myself up.

"Charming," she said. "I'm taking you to a…a sort of press conference. They want to know some more things about you."

"I don't see what there is to know," I glared at her in the mirror as I applied a fresh coat of lip gloss. "I already told them everything, the whole story. I don't see what else there is to know. I told them everything I wanted to give away. And what to you mean by 'sort of' a press conference?"

"Save all questions until the press conference," she snapped.

Holy Jesus monkey crap, I wanted to strangle her.

**Max POV**

"Where. The. Hell. Are. We. Supposed. To. Go?" I seethed to Fang as we walked around Hollywood. I was trying to be cheerful, at least, as the younger kids looked up and pointed at the Hollywood sign, taking pictures with our cell phones and oooohing and aaaaaaahing. But damn, I hadn't thought this through. How were we supposed to find her? If there was a giant sign in front of a building that said 'Nudge Right Here', I would be much obliged, but until then, I was stuck with Fang and a map.

"Uh, well, it looks like we go up this river…or it's a blue road…oh, wait, the whole map is blue. And, um, then we go up past this brown lake thing…which one of you blew your nose in the map?" he glared at Gazzy, who grinned sheepishly. Not cute.

"Damn, this thing is impossible to read!" declared Fang, and he looked up and sighed.

"You're holding it upside down," I closed my eyes and silently counted to ten.

"…Oh. Yeah. Yeah, you're right. Thanks, Max!" he smiled and turned it around.

I walked away from him and the others, around the corner to buy a drink or find something to gamble at to calm my nerves. "Hey," I asked a hobo that I saw sitting around. Or, at least, he was ratty-looking and he was holding out a cup. "Have you seen, or do you know anything about, an African-American girl with wings that's all over the news?"

He pointedly held out the cup.

"Oh, okay," I said, and hastily dropped a twenty into the cup by accident. I wanted to take it back, when I realized what I'd done, but he had it in a fierce death grip, as if daring me to yank it out of his hands. "Fine," I scowled. "Now tell me everything you know."

He opened his mouth, and it was disgusting. He didn't have a single tooth. Meaning, he couldn't talk, or give me any information about Nudge. "You…you…" I couldn't seem to find the right words. I lost it and grabbed the twenty out of his hands before he could blink, then ran quickly away.

"So, how'd it go with you and your homeless friend?" Fang asked kindly, waiting there for me when I came back. "Do you want me to stop to ask a robber or a druggee? 'Cause I could always find one…" he winced as I elbowed him in the stomach. Hard.

"Max, Max, I have some news!" cried Angel as she ran up to me, out of breath. She held up a finger, crouched over until she regained some air in her lungs and then looked up at me. "There's a movie premiere later tonight. I don't know what movie, but I know where it is. And Nudge, being popular and a celebrity now, will probably be there."

"Finally!" I cried, and picked Angel up and hugged her so hard she had to regain her breath yet again.

**Angel POV**

"Come on, Max, we have some time to kill," Gazzy pleaded with her. "The premiere isn't until tonight. Let's do something _fun. _Something _cool. _Please? Let's go play ding-dong-ditch on celebrities or something."

"Um, question, you are thirteen, right?" I heard Max ask him skeptically. I wasn't really paying attention. I wondered what was going on with Iggy and Ella. Iggy had practically begged to stay home. I think he was worried about Nudge, but he didn't want to see her for some reason. Still, he had looked reluctant, and that's why I was worrying.

But I bet you forgot about my plan. Remember, my plan to make Ella's life a living hell? I didn't forget. Time to put it in action.

Nudge had left her cell phone, because she hadn't taken anything with her when she ran out of our house. I think, anyway. She has tons of cell phones. But I brought one with me, for the sake of Operation Make-Ella's-Life-A-Living-Hell.

Max and the others weren't paying attention to me, just Nudge, even though I knew Max was going easy on Ella by not ripping her throat out. So this was the perfect time to put my plan into action, my incredibly genius plan of making her life a living hell. I whipped out the cell phone and typed Ella's number in the box. Plan in action…now.

_Watch yourself, Ella, _I typed in the box, then pressed SEND.

A few minutes later, I got a text back. _What? Who is this????_

_You shouldn't have stolen my boyfriend, Ella, _I texted back.

_Nudge?_

_You're gonna pay for being a bitch, Ella._

_Wtf?_

_I'm close by. Just watch your back. _I switched off the phone.

But that wasn't the end. It was just the beginning of hell.

**Nudge POV**

"Do you mind telling me where we're going?" I asked her in an annoyed voice.

"You're taking a taxi cab to the freaking press conference," she tried not to lose her composure. "Now, stop asking so many questions. I'm supposed to be your agent, so I'll control it, okay? Now, you better be grateful. You're getting this all for free."

"Yeah, free plus seven years in a dog crate," I almost snarled at her. She pretended not to notice, the arrogant bitch.

The cab pulled up outside a tall building. "Now we're here, you little twit," she snapped and practically dragged me inside. We entered a room with a long rectangular wooden table, polished until it shone and with chairs all around it. Lights hung dimly from the ceiling and gave the room a dark effect. Everyone in the room was already at a place on the table, except for one chair with a name card in front of it that read, Nudge.

"Let's get this show on the road," I collapsed in the chair with my feet up on the table. This may be news to just me, but it's apparently unacceptable to put your feet up on a table in a conference room with a lot of grown-ups in suits eating miniature caviar –which, FYI, is fish eggs, yuck-. So I received cold stairs and some very surprised looks.

"Oh, sorry. Judging from your clothing, I thought it was casual Friday or something," I drawled. Not one laugh. Not one pathetic smile. Tough crowd.

"Nudge," spoke one. "You've told the press your story about why you're here, why you left the flock. You've told us all how you lost your memory, and in one day, the whole of America feels sorry for you. But you can understand how they want more."

"I don't understand," I said.

"Just work with us here," said another. "What we mean is, they want to know more about you, and what you haven't told them, Nudge, is important."

"You have to understand that this is bigger than you, and that they treated you like crap anyway, so why should you care about the flock? All they did was cause you pain. Iggy sounds like a jerk," said one woman.

The man on the other end of the rectangular table stood up. "What we want, Nudge, is to know where the flock is."

**Angel POV**

I took the laptop out of Fang's bag without being noticed as we drove down the road in a van that Fang had hot-wired. He would never miss it, I was sure, but I needed to use it. See, I had attached a one-way video-chat camera to hook up this laptop with the one in Ella's room back at Dr. M's house. I could see what was happening on the other side of the camera, but she couldn't. So, pretty much, I was stalking her by spying on her room.

"Hey Fang I'm gonna check on my Webkinz account," I informed him. Poor guy believed me, too. The last time I got on that account was when I was eight. I immediately switched to live video-chat mode. I knew that this was about the time that Ella would get home from school and immediately change out of their ridiculous school uniforms.

Little did she know that I had put itching powder in all of her clothes.

How did I get in her room, you ask? Simple. I am just that freaking good.

Not fifteen minutes later, Ella walked into her room and slung her bag off her shoulder onto the bed, muttering something about Nudge being a bitch. It's a shame I can't read minds over video-chat. Regrettably, Gazzy was sitting right next to me, so he had to know of my plan.  
So, as a guy, when Ella started stripping, his inner reaction was _hell YES. _

_Pervert, get a room. _

_We're in a car. _

I literally had to cover his eyes. I mean, he was thirteen, and even though Ella was a bitch, he was practically salivating at the sight of a girl in only a bra and underwear, considering the fact that he'd never freaking seen one. He got less excited and more evil when he remembered what I was doing to her.

Since I had no idea what she was going to wear that day, I caked all her clothes in the invisible itching powder. The sad thing was, I had forgotten to wear gloves during all of that, so now my hands were itchy and blistery.

She returned from the closet with some skimpy little tube top and skirt, no doubt for Iggy, and pulled them on slowly. After brushing her hair and putting it in a loose ponytail, she started twitching and jerking around when she started reacting to the powder.

"What the heck?" she muttered under her breath as she itched under her clothes, even under her bra. Squirming around, she started to spread it and get it on her hands. She picked up a fork from something earlier that day and started itching her back with it, then gave up and started itching her back on the door frame. It looked so wrong.

She pressed herself into the doorknob to itch her spine, and it didn't work well. "God damn it!" she almost screamed, and her nails left trails of red marks as she scratched over her arms and legs. She started scratching her leg with one of her feet, and then started rolling on her bedspread, just trying to get the itch off, to no avail.

Finally, she gave up and became limp, after much stifled snickering from Gazzy and I. And then she did something she would soon regret.

She rubbed her eyelids with her fingers.

"Moooooooooom!" she screamed. "Oh, fuck, it hurts, it hurts sooo bad! It's in my eyes, oh God bring eye drops!"

**Nudge POV**

"You want me to tell you where the flock is? Where they live?"

I received cold, hard nods all around.

"Why?"

"The rest of the world wants to know. You all have been living in secret for years, giving no updates, after you 'saved the world'. Not even this Fang and his blog will tell your whereabouts. We've been searching for years, and you've been right under our noses."

"But, why should I tell you?"

"Let me put it this way," the man at the other end said. "If you don't tell us, we'll let you go. Back on your own, on the streets, and they won't want you back. If you don't tell us, you'll be all alone, simple as that. No more hotel, no more free clothes."

"I don't care about your stupid free clothes."

"Do you care about being alone? With nowhere to go, and nothing to do? You've lived like this before, but you'll get tired of it within two weeks. You'll want a bed, and real food. It'll all change the day you end up eating bugs and drinking murky water. Do you want to be like that, Nudge? Will starving change your mind?"

I blinked away tears. "You're making me choose between my family and my life?"

"That's exactly what we're saying."

The tears spilled out of my eyes and onto the piece of paper as I wrote down the address.

**Max POV**

I got a call from Iggy in an hour. "Hey, Ig," I said tiredly as I picked up the phone.

"Max, whatever you do, don't come home for a few days. I'm staying at Ella's right now. They found our house, Max. I don't know how they got the address, but they're all over. I got out of there without being seen, because Ella was there to warn me –and by the way, someone messed with her clothes and now she's all blistery, yuck- but anyway, they found our house. We can't let them find you, too. So don't come home."

"What? How…"

"I told you, I don't know anything. Oh, hang on. There are reporters here looking for me, since Dr. M is your mom. Ella's telling me to go hide in the closet. I gotta go. Love you guys. Bye." And the line went dead as I stared straight ahead in disbelief.

The flock caught my worried look. "They found us again," Angel said faintly.

**Nudge POV**

I was hanging out, reading magazines while my agent was on her over-an-hour long call on the other end of the room. I couldn't believe how many of them I was in. I was like a freaking movie star. It was what I always wanted, but I couldn't help but feel sick to my stomach at what I had done. It couldn't change now. They would know where we were, forever. The flock would have to move again, all because of me.

God, I missed Iggy so much that it hurt. I just wanted him to hold me again, like it was before I went and lost my memory, and everything would be alright. I was thinking about it again, finally, and hot tears spilled down my cheeks, because I didn't know how long I would remember any of it. I might have memory problems for the rest of my life. I just didn't know.

Where was the flock right now? Where was Iggy this minute? Was he with Ella? God, I hope that it wouldn't last. I could picture miniature Iggy-Ella's, and I felt like vomiting.

I gave a startled yell as I was grabbed out of my chair by a harsh hand on my shirt collar, yanking me out of my reverie and ignoring the tears and the pained expression on my face. I didn't care who the arm was attached to, I just stared furiously at it until I finally looked up, a look of pure rage on my face.

My eyes grew as round as saucers as I realized that it was the man from the other end of the table, the director of it all, the one who was now my enemy, and the enemy of the flock. Oh, wait…now I was the enemy of the flock. My eyes would have watered all over again, had I not been so surprised to be yanked up out of my chair by this turtle.

"What are you doing?!" I shrieked, but I was cut off by the crackle of laughter from him as he held me up higher. I wasn't lightweight either, I weighted a sure of a hell of a lot more than Angel or Gazzy, and I wasn't even as heavy as Max or Fang or Iggy, not by a long shot. Yet this guy had yanked me into the air and was laughing like a maniac. It was cut off abruptly as he stared at me, that evil gleam that I knew so well in his eyes.  
"You lying little rat," he scolded, and threw me back in my chair. "What did you mean by giving us the wrong address? You'll pay for this, you're out on the streets now! No one makes a fool of me and lives to tell it, but I'll let you off easy this time, if you hand back the hotel room and go back to your hole." He chuckled darkly, like a movie.

"W-What are you talking about?" I clutched the arm that slammed into the chair when he threw me back. "I gave you the right address!"

"Stop lying!!" he barked. "I sent everyone I had to the address. We surrounded it, and searched it. There was absolutely no one there, and certainly not one of the flock. Did you lie to protect your family?"

"I didn't lie!" I yelled directly at his face. "It took courage for me to give you that address, knowing that I had to save the life I have now! I told you the exact right address, so don't give me that! I don't know why no one's there! I didn't call them to warn them you were coming! Maybe they already know, maybe someone else told them! But I'm one hundred percent positive that's where I live!" And I broke down crying at his feet.

My agent did something I never thought she would then. She ran up to me and pushed the man back. "What are you doing?" he screamed at her. "She's a lying little sewer rat, and you push me?"

"Shut up!" she spat at him. "You made her give up her family, and she's in pain! Just shut up! You're a cruel, cold-hearted old tortoise, and you can go die in your hole for all we care! And even if you fire me, I'll still take care of her!"

I looked up, surprised. He sneered down at us. "I'm not going to fire you today," he declared. "That would be much too kind. You're still dealing with her. But hear me when I say I'll find your flock, and I'll make sure the whole world knows where they are. They're never going to be free again, thanks to that little outburst of yours." And he turned tail and walked off.

We looked at each other helplessly. The worst had only just started.

**Don't worry, Angel's plan will continue! Ella will pay...oh, yes, Ella will pay. Until next time! **

**~Rachel**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N-This is now my most popular story, thanks to all who review, you guys are great! I hope you keep reading, because there's going to be more surprises, more plot twists, and more drama coming up! This has gotten as many reviews in 6 chapters as my first story has gotten in 12, you all rock! Thanks again! ^_^**

**Also, thanks a bunch to _nm-maximumride4eva_, who's been such a big help for all my stories, with the constant reviews. Always the best reviewer, you'll surely read all my MR stories, no matter how lame they are xD You're the best ever! ^^ **

**Max POV **

"First things first." Fang said. "I gotta get an outfit, and you all have to get dresses, to make you look like you're classy enough to be at a movie premiere. They won't let us get near Nudge unless they know that we're the flock, and we have to look professional about it. That, and I really wanna see Max in a dress." His face was all seriousness.

"Why can't we just crash the place in our normal outfits and steal Nudge out of there, not admitting that we're the flock?" I asked, annoyed as I looked out the window of our car. Fang had insisted on driving away before I threw a fit.

"I told you. We have to be calm, cool and collected, and look like we know what we're doing, or else it would be totally jacked up, considering that they already know where we live. That, and I really, really want to see you in a dress."

I humphed. "Just for that, I'm getting a long one." He swore under his breath.

"More to the point, how did they find out where our house was? There's not a single person who knows, and Nudge has detached herself from the flock…she couldn't have."

Fang was silent for a moment, and I chewed my nails nervously, awaiting a reply. "She could have done it…to get revenge…" he said slowly, and hesitantly.

"No! Nudge would never do that to us! Especially since we didn't do anything wrong!"

"She probably wasn't thinking, Max. She was just hurting and wanted to get back at the world, and her way of doing that is by ratting us out. The hard part is, that's not all. We can never go back, not even to move our furniture, because that'll attract attention to ourselves, and reporters will be all over us. We can never go back to our home. We'll have to find a new one."

"No." I shook my head emptily. "No, Fang. No. We saved up years to get that house, it's the first house we lived in, our first house, it's our home. We can't leave, we've made it too far, and we'd just gotten settled with everyone. No." I buried my head in my hands.

"Max, we have to," he said sternly. "There's nothing we can do. We've been uprooted before. I know it's not right, and I know it's not fair, but somehow, someone found out where we lived, whether it was Nudge or not, and I really believe it was. The point is, we'll get through it, just like we got through everything else."

I glanced into the backseat at the younger kids. Gazzy was asleep and Angel was on Fang's laptop. Come to think of it, I didn't know why Angel was on there so often, but she was clearly up to non good. I mean, this is Angel we're talking about.

"Fang, it's not just that. It has a lot of special memories. Birthdays, explosions, you and I had _sex,_" I hissed quietly, even though I knew she could read my mind. I probably had so much in there that she didn't even flinch anymore, but I was still kind of embarrassed about it. "I can't just leave it. We…we…we could have had kids, Nudge could have come back…what happens now?"

"I know, I know. It's important to me, too. But you are my family, and I'm doing what's best for you, not what's best for a house full of memories, okay?" I nodded, and he glanced back over his shoulder. "Goddamn, what's that kid doing with my laptop?"

**Angel POV**

I heard Max and Fang's conversation, and I was only mildly scared about where we were going to live and what happened to us. I was more concerned, for the moment, of coordinating my plan for Ella. It was carefully organized, with craftiness, quick wit, and secrecy. It was the best freaking plan of all time, and it was all mine.

I'd like to take a moment to point out that I am just that freaking good.

You see, the plan had many stages. Phase one had commenced, that Ella had gotten pulled pranks on without really knowing that someone was out to get her. Phase two involved her getting a small inkling, and that was the deal.

Once it got past seven o'clock tonight, a bucket of lake water was scheduled to rain down on Ella when she opened her bedroom door. There were snails and piles of dirt under the bedding on her mattress. All of the Converse shoes on the middle shelf of her closet were filled to the brim with dried mud. I had glued the top and bottom of her Nintendo DS together. There was a confetti cannon in her dresser drawer. Justin Bieber's music was rigged on chipmunk version, infinite loop on her CD player.

Okay, so maybe I took it a bit too far. But really, she had done something almost unbelievably horrible. I promised that that bitch was going to pay, and I keep my promises. Well, most of the time, anyway. I was especially excited, because, despite the drastic situation, we were all getting dresses –well, all except Fang and Gazzy, so just me and Max- for the movie premiere, and we didn't even have to steal them. I was going to get something white, something that made me look, well, angelic.

I glanced over at the clock. 6:48. Ella, Iggy and Dr. M were probably just getting done with dinner. Sometime soon, she would walk up to her room and get the surprise of her life. I would make sure of that.

**Nudge POV**

"You're getting ready for the movie premiere later today," my agent said as she walked into the hotel room where I was watching TV intently. "I'll take you shopping."

"Now?" I asked, looking up. "Right now? Can't I even have some time to relax, between telling the insane guy where my family lives and the photoshoots and magazine issues, along with the talk shows?"

"Yes, fame must be so difficult for you," she said with fake sympathy. "Well, 'the insane guy' is funding it all, so we're going to shop 'til we drop, and you better be getting a $1000 dress and a diamond necklace, bracelet and earrings. And we'll even throw in a purse and an expensive perfume."

"Damn, you really hate this guy, don't you?" I asked as I slipped my shoes on. "What'd he do to you? I know it can't be just 'cause of me. Did you ever date him? Did he break up with you? I mean, I understand, sometimes guys like younger women…"

"I happen to be thirty-one years old," she seethed, "and he's my stepfather."

"Ooooh, ouch," I winced. "Uh, sorry about that."

"It's fine," she brushed it off. "But we gotta get in the limo and go. It's only in a couple of hours and you have absolutely nothing to wear."

I was shooed out of the lobby and into the limo, where I sat with a new iPod Touch and my feet up on the leather seats. "Don't you have any sense of glamour, or fame?" she asked.

"Glamour? In my family, I'm the only one. You should see all Max's outfits. They're all jeans, and usually a T-shirt or something, unless I've gotten to her, but she's kind of like the older sister, and I guess she is. Always really protective, you know. And Fang, well, his wardrobe's all black skinny jeans, black converse and a black T-shirt. Some things never change. He pretends like he doesn't care about us, but really, he cares a lot."

I went on, lost in my new memories. "Gazzy, well, he's the fun one with the wild hair and the tattoo that Max doesn't know about that says "badass". He's thirteen, but I think everyone will always think of him like he was 5-8 years old. He honestly doesn't care about the stuff that goes on between us older kids. He probably doesn't even know I'm gone."

"And Iggy…Iggy's classy. Like, he lights up a room when he comes in, and when he smiles, it almost breaks your heart. It's really special, and it's also really sad to see it wasted. …That's why I just had to leave."

"I thought there was a younger one."

"You mean Angel? Oh, she wears really cute clothes for an 11-year-old, mostly designer jeans and a cute layered T-shirt or something. She used to be really weird with her powers, but I guess she grew up some since then. Now, she's really responsible."

**Somewhere Far Away**

Dr. Martinez looked up from the book she was reading as Ella Martinez stomped noisily down the stairs. Her hair hung in her face, soaking wet as she glared at her mom. Confetti stuck to her damp hair and clothes, and fell quietly to the floor. A broken CD player was clutched in her hands.

"So…I'm guessing it's a bad hair day?" asked Dr. M helplessly.

**Max POV**

As we walked into the mall, into some random department store –probably JC Penny's or something like that-, Angel shot me a look, like I should be sorry that I wasn't squealing with excitement. Fang and Gazzy had left us to find whatever they were wearing, so I was with Angel in the older girls' department. "Don't worry, we'll find yours when I finish looking at these hideous dresses," I promised.

"They're really pretty, Max," pouted Angel. "Plus, you should try a black one."

"Ew. I never wear black. Fang and I would be like the emo couple of the century."

In the end I wandered through endless rows of dresses and finally settled on a deep blue strapless short dress with a black pattern. "Alright, let's go get your dress," I offered. We rode down the escalator and down to the department with Angel's size. She looked more like she was 13 or 14, so I temporarily forgot she didn't look like it, only thinking of her as an 11 year old.

We ended up riding back up and into the preteen section, where she bought a white halter top with small pink flowers and a big honking pink bow around the waist. I wondered just how much this was costing me. Er, Fang. I didn't work.

As we were walking toward the checkout, Angel grabbed my arm and yanked me back behind a rack of clothes. I staggered and fell backward into the rack and grabbed Angel's head to steady myself. She winced in pain and pushed me back. "What the hell was that about?" I hissed. "Is it your plan to kill me again so that you can be the leader of the flock, Angel?"

She frowned in silence. "Max, you know that was only for about a year. I was really weird back then, okay? You know I haven't tried to pull that on you for years."

"No, you haven't tried to pull that on me ever since we stopped going on missions. It was okay as long as we were all equal in the same house and I was your older sister again. You really hate me being the leader, don't you, you little shit?"

"Max!" she hissed. "Look!" She pointed straight ahead of us, at a tall woman in a business outfit and high heels. By her side was a slightly shorter teenage girl. And the teenage girl was Nudge.

"Angel, I'm so sorry," I began, but Angel immediately shushed me.

"Ok, I want a black strapless dress and heels, with a pretty necklace and matching earrings. I don't feel comfortable having a custom-made dress or anything fancy. I've always shopped at the mall, I don't care how much you wanna hurt your boss. Still, I've never really been shopping with Max, I always had to go on my own or with Angel, so I know where everything is. No, come over here!" Nudge gave an exasperated sigh and hauled the woman over to where Nudge and I had just come from.

"What are they doing here?" I asked Angel as I scooted out of Nudge's sight. "And who the heck is that?" I pointed to the uptight lady that Nudge was dragging away from us. She had a constant superior look that implied that something disgusting was under her nose. I wanted to slap it off of her arrogant face.

"It looks like Nudge wants a dress for the movie premiere, and the other one is her agent," Angel said evenly. "Nudge thinks that she's a stuck-up snob, but she kind of feels sorry for her, and Nudge's agent's just tired of carting around a spoiled brat."

"Well, they're right next to the freaking checkout line! How are we supposed to get out of here without them seeing us?" I started panicking. "I don't want to talk to Nudge until later! I-I'm not ready! I don't know what I'd say to her! Angel, what are we going to do?"

Angel waited a moment until I was breathing normally again. "Okay, first, calm down. I always have an evil plan, Max. Second, remember the good old days, when we were fighting for our lives and we had to steal everything, even food? It looks like we're back to that."

"But we _have _the money, Angel, it's not like we can't pay for it! It's morally wrong, stealing!"

"Max, since when have we ever done the _moral _thing?" Angel asked with a shake of her head. "No. We have to get out of here, and get out of here we will. With stolen dresses."

A dark shadow loomed over us, causing us to look up, a look of pure, unbridled terror on our faces. "You were saying?" the security guard behind us asked.

"Run!" Angel bellowed. I prayed with all my might that Nudge hadn't heard as I jumped up and followed Angel out of the store, running for my life. The security guard behind us was keeping up pretty well, I thought as I ran through the hallways of the mall after Angel, who clearly had no idea where she was going.

We ran with inhuman speed away from him, but he kept on our tails for a while before he had to stop to breathe. I took this opportunity to run even faster. My lungs felt like they were bursting, as they hadn't in years. And the scary thing was that I was doing all this for a dress for a movie premiere. I never thought I'd be one of those girls.

Fang and Gazzy swung out in front of us with their legally obtained clothes in legally obtained shopping bags, and were in for the surprise of their lives as Angel and I flung ourselves at them and dragged them quickly out of the door and into the minivan.

**Nudge POV**

I glanced up from the dresses that I was looking at. I was sure that I had just heard some small voice scream to run. I almost missed Angel.

_Come on, Nudge, be happy. You're famous and in Hollywood, just like you always dreamed. Why did you even agree to settle for a sixty dollar dress when you could have a thousand dollar one? Sometimes you just don't think. Forget Iggy and the flock already. They're fine without you. _

I was horrified at my own thoughts, and busied myself in looking for dresses. It wasn't hard to find, I knew I was only looking for a black strapless and heels. I could get in here and get out. And not ever worry about Iggy.

**Angel POV**

Max breathed heavily in her seat as Fang drove easily down the road. "So, let me get this straight," Fang mused, "you guys stole a couple dresses just because Nudge and her agent were near the checkout?"

"We didn't think it through! A security guard heard us and didn't give us a chance to explain before he chased us. Well, we were running from him, but still, he chased us! And we had to run fast, he kept up with us pretty good, and I didn't want to talk to Nudge because I'm scared to! I really want her to be safe and come back, and she won't if I don't say the right thing."

"Max, breathe!" Fang urged, and then laughed. "I think it's good that you guys stole those clothes."

"Why?!" Max practically screeched in his ear. He winced, and then gave her another crooked grin.

"Because you never do anything like that anymore. Five years ago you would have ripped the head off of something if it meant that you'd be able to save something important to you, like Nudge, and now you've kind of adjusted to a normal life. But sometimes I miss the old, take-charge, kick-butt Max."

She smiled at him and leaned in to kiss him. This may not have been a good idea, considering the traffic, so they almost swerved and hit a group of tourists. Well, they did swerve, but they didn't hit the tourists, thankfully. And that's what I love about Max and Fang. They may be hazardous to the rest of the world, but at least I feel like I have a family with love in it.

I, however, had more pressing matters on my hands then just making life hell for a few insignificant tourists. Wow, I sounded really dark overlord-ish right there, but whatever. Ella was still going to pay. My plan for her hadn't hardly started yet –again, overlord-ish- and would soon be put into full action.

Opening the laptop once again, I switched it to one-way video camera mode, or whatever you want to call it. Ella and Iggy were in her room, never a good sign.

"I don't understand all the stupid things that have been happening today. The itching I got earlier, the infinite loop of the chipmunk music on my CD player, the mud in my Converse, the bucket of water, the confetti cannon…is this someone's idea of a joke?"

"Dunno," Iggy said absently as he picked something out of his nails.

"Iggy!" she whined.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. You happy?" he asked, mildly irritated.

"Of course I'm happy!" squealed Ella as she leaned in to kiss him.

Nuh-uh. No way. I pressed a button on the keyboard. Cue giggling that sounded like it was coming from outside the window.

"What the?" Iggy yelped as he jumped away from Ella and peered out the window. Of course, nothing. "I could swear I just heard giggling. Is someone watching us?"

"No, silly," answered Ella, slightly impatient. "There's nothing outside the window. Just kiss me."

"Okay," said Iggy hesitantly, and leaned in again."

Bad dog. How many times do I have to use the shock collar? I turned the giggling up. Louder.

"Gah!" Iggy jumped up. "I know there's something out there! I…uh…we…see you later, Ella!" he ran from the room.

Now I had her right where I wanted her. I had been wondering how well I could still use my powers. I hadn't controlled hardly any minds in five or so years. When I was seven, I couldn't control people's minds if they weren't near me.

I still couldn't control people's minds unless I was able to see them. But I could see Ella through the camera, so I put it to the test. I thought with all my might, and concentrated super hard on making Ella take one step forward; baby steps, you know. Slowly, her foot started to inch forward. Overjoyed, I leapt ahead, and tried to make her stand up. In a few seconds, without an ounce of hesitation, she did.

An evil grin worked its way across my face. Ella gasped aloud as her hand came up and struck her face, sending her flying back on the couch. I struggled not to laugh as Gazzy looked interestedly over my shoulder to see what was going on. Slowly, he got out his camera. Ella staggered off the couch at my command and threw herself into the wall. Then she got up and started bobbing her head and flapping her "wings" like a chicken.

That wasn't all. She walked over to the bed, peeled back the covers, where hundreds of snails –don't even ask me where I got them- were crawling all over. It was all I could do not to give an evil laugh as she picked one up, plopped it in her mouth and started chewing. Gazzy and I both shuddered. Maybe I shouldn't be doing this.

"Hey, Ella," Iggy walked back into the room and fiddled with his shirt absent-mindedly before he looked up again. As soon as he did, he doubled over in pain, for poor Ella had just kicked him in the balls. This was partly revenge on Iggy. No one does that to my sister.

"Shit!" he cursed, and fell out of the room. Ella slammed the door on him. By the time I had released Ella from my grasp, Iggy was already gone, and Gazzy had recorded the whole thing for YouTube.

"I've got revenge," came Gazzy's voice through the recording, a perfect imitation of Nudge. "And here it comes, bitch. Here it comes for you."

**Max POV**

If I could've been pacing back and forth, I would've. It's become a habit of mine, that I pace back and forth when I'm nervous, and I was extremely nervous. I didn't know how I was going to get Nudge back, and I needed her back. I wanted our family to be normal again, and it couldn't go back to the way it was without her. I didn't know how much of her memory she had back, but we would deal with whatever happens.

If I said the wrong thing, Nudge would run again. She was the kind of person that ran, I guess. She had run away from me years ago when she wanted her wings off, and now she was running again. It meant that she just couldn't deal with it anymore.

And it all came back to Iggy. He was the reason that she had run, she had obviously seen him with Ella. Iggy hadn't even agreed to come. He had wanted to stay with Ella. After all the talk of being with Nudge, all the talk of getting married and having children with Nudge, he was just going to give up? This wasn't like him at all.

As Fang pulled up to a gas station, I grabbed my cell phone and jumped from the car. He gave me a quick nod, understanding, and I walked away from the car slowly, dialing Iggy's number on the phone. I was praying to heck he would pick up and hear me out.

It rang three times before Iggy gave a hesitant, "Hello?"

"Iggy," I rushed through the words, "Listen to me, and listen good. I thought you said she meant something to you. I thought you were worried about her, and that you wanted to be with her forever. You would have jumped off a building without your wings if she had asked you to, and now you're throwing it all away."

"Max, why?"

"No!" I shouted into the receiver. "You slept with her, you moron! And she loves you more than anything in the world! You threw it away for that slut I call my half-sister, but she's nothing to me now that she's done this! Don't you see what you're doing? You're giving up the one person you loved more than life, the one person you wanted to be with forever!"

"I wasn't…I didn't…"

"Yes you were!" I screamed. "We need you, Iggy! Nudge needs you, and you're sitting on your ass doing nothing! Get your butt over here, and save this family, and the one girl that you love! I know you were confused, and lonely, and hurt, but give it one last chance before you lose her forever!" I sobbed. "Please, Iggy. Please!"

There was silence for a moment before his voice came through the phone.

"I'm on my way."

**Aw! *cries tears of joy* Let me just say I have no idea where the story's going as I write it. I have no big plan for whatever's coming. I have some idea of the ending, but all in between is thought up on the spot. So, Iggy's coming, and it makes me so happy. ^_^**

**Anyway, REVIEW! :D**

**~Rachel**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N - I just want to say that the story will probably be nearing its end in the next few chapters. This was designed to be a story with one problem that would ultimately be solved or unsolved. Thanks to all my reviewers in such a short amount of time. I love this story, it's my favorite, but I have to end it sometime. **

**Note: The poll on my profile for the next MR story will, indeed, end May 1st, 2010. So vote if you havn't already, if you want to have a say in my next MR story pairing. I will probably start the new story on May 10, 2010 if possible. **

**Memories of You **

**Chapter 8**

**Nudge POV**

I glanced at my reflection in the huge mirror of the hair salon. My hair was straight and cut newly to my shoulders, now drying. The noise of the whirling wind of the blow-dryer was all around me, drowning out the whole world, everything but my thoughts. I paid no attention to the scurry of people around me, my agent or even the stylist. My eyes were screwed shut and I was concentrating on my memories.

They were beginning to fade, and I knew it. This is just what I had worried about when I had left, that something like this would happen to me again, that it would be just like Alzheimer's, off and on like an almost burnt-out light bulb. I couldn't do this to my family, and I couldn't put them through so much pain, and that's why I left.

The faces of my family, the faces of the people that I had known for my whole life, who I relied on more than anything in the world, were beginning to fade. Max, Fang, Iggy, Gazzy and Angel's faces were now just a blur, as if they were standing behind a fogged window. Once again, Iggy's face was the most blurred, but now I was forgetting all of them as well. I would not allow more tears to flow. They were dried up now.

I simply wouldn't let myself go back to them. It would only cause more suffering for me and the people I knew I loved. Iggy had moved on, and the others would, too, over time. The movie premiere I was going to tonight would start my new future away from them, and after tonight, I would never go back. I had a few more hours to live in the past, and then I would allow myself to forget entirely. Literally, I would allow myself to forget the flock.

I glanced at the shopping bags that were lined up on the counter, full of jewelry, my dress and shoes, and I wish that Iggy would have been there to see it, and I wished, even now, that he would come. I ached for Iggy so much that it hurt. I still remembered everything about that night in the cornfield, despite my fading memories. I cringed at the thought that it would possibly the one memory that would never, never go away.

I remembered happier times now, the ones that had always made me smile. Max cutting in on my motormouth, claiming she had a headache, but I could see her smile. Fang and I waiting for the flock with the hawks in the cave over Lake Mead. Gazzy letting one go around me and pointedly cackling, walking in my direction. Angel and I snickering when Fang and Max told us that they'd be sharing a bedroom. And Iggy, Iggy always being the one that I could lean on. For anything. But it was all over now.

I was brought back to the real world as I felt a cool hand on my shoulder, and looked up to see my agent, and we were riding in the limo again. When had we gotten back? I found myself staring emptily out the window. I turned to her, and she smiled at me sadly, and I could have sworn it was genuine sadness. Despite her sarcastic nature and biting tongue, I heard her finally say to me, "You know…sometimes it's alright to cry."

And I leaned on her shoulder and cried and cried.

**Max POV**

I had sighed in relief after Iggy told me that, but I had no idea what it meant. How was he going to deal with Nudge when he saw her? Did he want her to be his friend, or just his sister, or something more? Did he have feelings for Ella, still, and what had caused him to leave? Questions were swimming through my head at such a rapid rate that my head was spinning and I wanted an aspirin so badly.

The others had tried to convince me that it was going to be fine, and cheered happily when I had announced that Iggy had said he was coming. Fang was there for support, but somehow, I always felt that he wouldn't understand. Gazzy was too young, and lately, Angel always seemed so preoccupied with Fang's laptop, it was like an obsession.

Now, at least, the kids were parked in the car with the electronics and Fang and I were sitting somewhere on the side of the road, off to the side, where the grass was tall and the wind swept around us in a way that was so familiar. I wanted desperately to know the end of it all, and I wanted even more to know that it would all be okay somehow.

Fang was massaging the spot in between my wings like he knew I liked, and it always managed to calm me down, but right now I was just too worked up. Being in the School had been nothing compared to this. My own mother being captured by Mr. Chu had been far less than what I was feeling now. This was my flock, my family, that was at stake now.

Fang reached around and turned my face toward his. He took a deep breath. "Listen, Max, you know that you and I will do anything to get our family back together, because it's the one thing that we can never give up. We're all fighting for it to be alright again, and when it's you and me, it's never gone wrong before. We always make it out okay, and it's not gonna change now, not when we've come so far.

"I love the flock more than anything, and I love you more than that, and because we love each other like that, nothing like that can happen. And I know that's a little optimistic and out of character for me, but we're gonna make it out okay, because you're leading us there." He grasped my face tightly in his hands. "Don't ever forget that."

"You…you really believe that?"

"Have I ever lied to you before?" And he leaned in and gave me a tender, loving, powerful, heart-stopping kiss. I kissed him back with determination, and pulled him closer and closer until I thought I'd explode. Electricity ran through us like never before, and our lips moved in sync for more than a few minutes.

Most couples would be torn apart by what we'd had to go through in the last years. This was only bringing Fang and me closer.

**Angel POV**

I glanced over at Gazzy peering out the window. That was so immature. I'd had to grow up a long time ago from Max and Fang's thoughts, and now it hardly bothered me. In fact, it didn't. I was perfectly happy for them, that they had a love so strong. But apparently, Gazzy was not nearly that mature.

"I wish they'd quit sticking their tongues down each other's throats already," Gazzy commented, momentarily forgetting his DS game.

"You're getting your ass whooped by Bowser," I announced, much to his horror. He picked up the DS and continued on.

"How's your plan with Ella going?" Gazzy asked as he switched off his game and looked over my shoulder at the laptop.

"Wanna see?" I asked, and flipped it open. "This is in the living room. Basically, I have cameras all over the house. And I know Iggy's coming, but I'm still gonna make her pay. She's gonna wish she never messed with me – ah, I mean Nudge."

"Uh-huh, yeah, right," he said scathingly, which I dismissed. I glanced at the laptop, which was, indeed, in the living room. Ella and her mother were sitting quietly –er, somewhat quietly.

"I swear," Ella almost shrieked, with bloodshot eyes that looked like they hadn't slept for days. "Someone is out to get me! Earlier today I had all kinds of pranks! The weird texts, the pranks in my stuff, the giggling in my window, the _snail _I barfed up, not to mention that I kicked Iggy so hard he's probably never having kids again!" her voice rose higher and higher until I thought my ears were going to bleed any second.

"Why did I do that, Mom?" she asked worriedly. "I never wanted to kick him or eat the snail. I don't even remember it! It's like I was possessed! And then this weird voice told me that revenge is coming or whatever, and I was so scared! What's going on?!"

"Honey, calm down," Dr. M said nonchalantly. "I think you're just having a panic attack. Lots of people have overactive anxiety, it's a common problem. Although I have no idea where you get it from, they do make pills for this kind of thing…" she trailed off uncomfortably, clearly disturbed by Ella's outburst. Gazzy snickered, and so did I. The whole thing was driving her crazy, on the verge of being mentally ill.

Gazzy glanced out the window to make sure that Max and Fang hadn't heard or seen anything. "Gazzy, don't-" I began, but it was too late. He jumped back from the window, his hands over his eyes.

"Fang had his shirt off and they were in the grass and oh, my God," Gazzy almost gagged. "These are not good mental pictures! I mean, I know she's depressed and everything, but don't you think they could at least get a hotel room so that the unsuspecting don't just happen to look over and see Fang with his shirt off feeling Max up? Jesus!" he cried, falling off the seat dramatically.

"Gazzy," I waited patiently for him to get it, but as usual, he was as intelligent as a brick, "I have the freaking mental pictures everyday from Max and twice as much as usual from Fang!"

"Okay, okay, just watch," he commanded, and we looked at the screen. "I don't need to be on medication!" Ella screamed. "Someone's messing with my life, and I want them out! Out, out, out, out!" She stomped her foot with each word.

"Ella, calm down."

"No, you calm down, Mom! I'm not a psychopath! I don't have ADD! I'm not crazy! Listen to me, that stuff really happened!"

"Sure it did, sweetie."

Ella gave a sigh of despair, stomped her foot and ran upstairs. Doctor Martinez winced as a door slammed.

**Nudge POV **

It was happening faster. Earlier today, all the memories were in place. A few hours ago, they had started disappearing, and now, I couldn't remember my own childhood. It was all a blurry haze. I knew that I didn't have much time left. I tried not to cry. In a matter of hours, I wouldn't remember anything, and I'd be forced to live in the present my whole life.

We had never thought that we'd make it past age fifteen, but we did, and Max and Fang and Iggy had never thought they'd make it to age twenty, but they did, and I didn't want to make it past age seventeen without Iggy in my life, but I had to. If I didn't have my family, I didn't have anything.

My agent walked into the hotel room where I was staring blankly at the TV, even though it was off. I probably looked like a crazy person, watching it that intently. She blinked a few times, and then stood by the TV and waved a hand in front of it. I snapped back to reality and stared evenly at her.

"We have a problem," she said, and I laughed harshly.

"You mean one other than the ones we already have?"

"Yes," she rolled her eyes. "Remember my stepfather, that crazed man who grabbed your neck and made you tell him the location of the flock? He's sent out dozens of search teams, and you know they found nothing at your house. They're looking all over the country. There are wanted posters _of the flock._"

"But they didn't do anything wrong!"

"I know that, but someone might actually turn in their location. The flock's now in danger of what you described, being hunted down and in the public eye for the rest of their lives. And it isn't like fame, Nudge, when it's that kind of publicity, it's much harder."

"W-what can I do?"

"That's the point, Nudge. You've done all you can do."

**Max POV **

I had blushed from the moment we got into the car until we had arrived at the park, and it didn't help any that Gazzy was smirking the whole way there, and I knew he had obviously seen. When we got out of the car, I ordered the younger kids to go play, and I wasn't surprised that Angel brought Fang's laptop with her.

Gazzy gave me a wink when I got out of the car, and I gave him a death glare so scary that Fang himself couldn't have done it better, and he scurried quickly away. Gazzy, being thirteen, and 'much too old' for playgrounds, sat absently on the swing playing his Nintendo thingy. I rolled my eyes as I turned back to Fang.

"They don't seem to be that worried."

"What do you expect?" he asked. "They're only kids. They don't get how serious it could be, and they may not even care. To them, it's all going to be alright, and it's that way to me, too. But unlike you, they just don't know how serious it could be. They expect Nudge to always be around."

The wind picked up, and I could tell that autumn was coming soon, whether we liked it or not. I enjoyed it for a few moments until a piece of paper fluttered down from the trees, floated lightly in the air and whipped around our heads. Fang walked a few steps and picked it up. I waited anxiously for a moment as a look of dread crossed Fang's face, and he looked up at me.

He held out the paper in his outstretched hand, and my trembling one took it. I almost fell down from shock, even though I knew I should have seen this coming. There, on the paper, were pictures of me, Fang, Iggy, Gazzy and Angel, wanted for a reward of $10,000 dollars by the U.S. government.

"What do we tell the kids?" I asked, my eyes wide with fear. "That there are literally people trying to get us, for money? People are going to be chasing us, all over again, Fang!" I gasped as I saw the papers just like this one all over the park, on trees, on lamp posts, and on the playground. Gazzy came running back to us, one in his hand.

"This is so cool!" he exclaimed. "We're wanted, just like in those old western movies! They're even offering a reward! That's two thousand dollars for one of us! I'm worth two thousand dollars!" He pumped his fist in the air and the grin on his face was huge. I looked gravely at him.

"Oh, I mean, other than being wanted and stuff. That's bad," he said, like someone had just slaughtered a puppy.

"Maybe you'll think this is bad," hissed Fang, and pointed around us, to the other people in the park. They were all looking at the flyers, and getting excited at the idea of a ten thousand dollar reward just to capture a few mutants. "Get in the car," Fang hissed. "Gazzy, Max, get in the car now!"

I sent a message to Angel with all my power. _Angel, get in the car now! _

"Why, Max?" she hollered, and I slapped my forehead.

"Max?" someone asked, hearing her, and followed her eyes to where they were latched on me. "There they are!" cried someone, and everyone came rushing toward us. A homeless man, who had also heard, ran up and grabbed Angel by the arm.

"Come 'ere, girly," he said eagerly, his teeth missing. The look of disgust on her face was unbelievable. "I'll take ya in to the police and everything'll be alright, now," he grinned mechanically. Angel pulled away, but he was stronger. He dragged her away with him, to Gazzy's horror.

"You let go of her!" he screamed, and ran at the homeless man. Ripping his arm away from Angel, he urged her to run, but she stayed anyway. He kicked the man straight in the chest, toppling him over. "Run, Angel!" he shouted, and they ran toward our car.

A million hands were on Fang and I, pulling us every which way. There were only about ten or fifteen people, but they were swamping us, and we were drowning under the weight of their bodies. Fighting over who was to claim the prize, they tugged and pulled on us. Fang swung wildly, and I kicked and clawed with fury, but they wouldn't go away.

Gazzy ran toward us, Angel in his hand, and thrust her in the doors on the other side of the car. Grabbing an overlarge tree branch, he swung at our attackers furiously and with such rage that they jumped back, surprised, giving us all the time we needed to jump in the car and drive away.

**Angel POV **

I grabbed the hand sanitizer in the side pocket of the car as we drove away from the screaming people, who ran after us in an enormous herd. Quickly we broke free on the main highway and sped away. I rubbed the sanitizer all over my hands and arms, determined to get the feeling of his dirty fingers off of me.

"Angel, are you alright?" Immediately there were three faces up in mine, and I screamed at Fang to watch the road. They seemed to understand that I was fine now, so they all went back to worrying about what it all meant, that the search party had come to our house and found that we weren't there, and now they were coming for us. I gave a worried glance at Max, who had her head in her hands.

"Max, it was never going to be normal," I grimaced.

**Nudge POV **

A silky smooth strapless black dress hung on my frame, and black wedges were on my feet. Bracelets and necklaces clinked noisily on my hands and neck, and my hair hung straight over my shoulders. I stared into the mirror, and a stranger stared back at me. A few more hours was all it would take for me to forget it completely.

I looked out my window and saw my agent in the limo on her phone. I saw the sun setting, and I saw traffic heading downtown to the movie premiere, where I was the honored guest, the one people wanted to see more than the stars of the movie. I should have been happy, but all I felt was emptiness and what could have been.

She motioned for me to come down, and I walked out of the room, with more hesitation than ever. The elevator ride was much too short, and all too suddenly, I was downstairs, and walking toward the limo and my new future. It may have been just a movie premiere, but to me, it was something I never wanted to experience.

I wanted to be home, in my room, and with Iggy there talking to me, holding me, loving me as he always had before. I wanted to see Gazzy and Angel fighting, and I wanted to walk in on Max and Fang making out in the kitchen. I wanted to rip Ella's head off, and go to Dr. M's to eat the best chocolate chip cookies ever.

But I couldn't do any of that, because I found myself in the limo on the way to the movie premiere. A few moments later and we were there, and I didn't know why we had gotten there so fast. I looked at the clock and it said it had been ten minutes, but to me, it felt like a few seconds.

**Max POV **

We flew around the corner in the minivan. Angel and Gazzy were getting dressed in the back, too mortified to look at one another, and I was trying to get changed in the front. Fang kept looking, and each time I had to slap him. Now I was messing with my heels and jewelry, and at the same time trying to fix my hair.

I took no time to admire myself, or the dress, or Angel or Gazzy. We all looked cute, but that wasn't the point. The point was that we had to get Nudge back, or nothing would be right. I hope that Iggy wasn't lying when he said that he would come. I hoped that he didn't choose Ella.

Slowly, Fang and I treaded places as he got out his tuxedo and tried desperately to get it on. Angel and Gazzy both looked away, claiming that Fang was small and that no one wanted to see that. Fang argued that he was wearing underwear, and no he was not small just for their information.

I took the wheel in a hurry and swerved as I was trying to get adjusted. In an instant Fang had his tux on and I was trying desperately to fix his hair, which Gazzy and Angel both snickered at.

We sped around another corner, and there it was, the black limo that Nudge was climbing out of. We pulled in right next to it and put it in park, not caring who saw us or where anyone wanted to pull up. What we didn't expect to see was Iggy jumping out of another car at the same time, looking as beat-up and horrible as ever, but he still ran toward Nudge.

We got out of the car, transfixed, just standing there, as Iggy reached out and grabbed Nudge's hand. With a look of utter surprise, sadness and happiness swimming in her eyes, she yanked her arm away and hissed, "What are you doing here?"

"I came to get you!" he said. "And don't say anything just yet. I want to tell you that I've made the most horrible mistake, and I don't expect you to forgive me at all. I was so lonely because of your memory, that it drove me right to her, and it's the worst mistake I've ever made. I didn't mean to leave you or hurt you, I love you more than anything in the world."

She glared at him. "You shouldn't have come. I…I moved on, Iggy. I'm fine without you. I came her, and I'm going to be famous, and my memory's even fading a little bit, so I don't have to remember you, and you can go back with Ella and forget me." She spat the words out like poison, and I could tell they were for her.

"I don't love Ella! I'm not making excuses, either! What I did was wrong, but I did it because I was lonely and scared that you would never remember. I never loved her, I never even thought of her that way! I only love you!" Hurt shone in his eyes.

Tears poured from hers as he continued. "I need you to make myself whole and complete, and we all need you to come home. I don't care about your memory, even, because I love you with or without it, and I'll do anything I can to make you remember again. I know they might be off and on, I've thought it all through. I just want to be with you, only you, forever."

"No!" she cried, breaking into tears all over again. "I won't ruin your life for you by coming with you again! You need someone normal, someone to love you always and never forget how lucky they are, and just by looking at you now, I've fallen in love with you all over again!"

"Then don't leave," he whispered, so low I could barely hear it. I squeezed Fang's hand slightly, and he smiled at me. "The only way you could ruin my life is to stay here where I can never see you again. Come back, Nudge. I love you so much."

She threw her arms around him and kissed him full on the mouth, and his eyes widened in surprise, but his arms came around her and held her so close that it seemed like he would never let go. Her hands ran through his hair and they looked like they couldn't hardly breathe, but they still held each other close like they needed each other to survive, and they probably did.

I turned to Fang, and he looked the happiest I had ever seen him, other than when we moved in together. He was actually smiling, this huge, happy, goofy grin. I understood why he didn't smile a lot, it made him look like a clown. But I didn't care. He was my clown, and I captured him in a hug. He leaned in, his lips to my ear.

"Max," he began.

"Yes?" I asked, my smile simply glowing.

"Do you love me?" I looked up at him. "More than anything."

"Then marry me."

I stood on my toes and kissed him like never before.

**Now, how about that ending? **

**Think back a little bit on the story, now that it's almost over. **

**What was your favorite part? **

**Who was your favorite character? **

**Did you enjoy Angel's plans for Ella? **

**Would you read another story somewhat like this? **

**~Rachel**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N- The story's not over yet! It's only over when you see the words 'The End' at the bottom. Keep checking back! I love you all, my reviewers. You have no idea how much it means. Enjoy this chapter on to the end of the story. I have more for you! **

**Memories of You **

**Chapter 9**

**Nudge POV **

On the last night in Hollywood, I had managed to separate myself from the flock long enough for them to go back their hotel and pack up while I went back to my incredible suite. Throwing random clothes into a suitcase my agent had brought over, I was trying to fit everything I owned into it, which was easy because I didn't really have much.

"Are you sure you have to go?" she asked hopelessly, and in that moment I felt sorry for. She was probably the kid in school, the awkward one who didn't have a lot of friends, and I'd managed to be kind to her, only to find that she wasn't that bad. But what would she do now. "I mean, I'm happy for you and everything," she continued, "but I guess I'll be alone again."

"You did fine without me," I answered, "before I came here. I don't really know how much time I have left, or I might stay. All I know is that I'll probably forget soon, and I want to spend as much time as I can with Iggy. I tried to give him up once, and I can't."

"It sounds like you have a great guy you're looking at here," she said as she stuffed one last envelope inside it. It looked curious, and I wanted to open it, but I decided not to. "Look, Nudge, I'm sorry about what happened to your family just because you came here. You…you can't go back to your old house again, and you know that."

I wouldn't let the tears slip out. I couldn't crack now. I tried to remind myself that the relocation was just part of our new beginning, and that there would be plenty of memories in a new house. Memories that, with any luck, I wouldn't forget. But then, that was just sort of a pipe dream, wasn't it?

"Listen…I…I've lived in the woods before, I've scrounged for food, and I've lived in a dog crate. You all seem to forget that however many normal qualities, likes and interests I have, I will always, always come from a dog crate. I can deal with sleeping under a bridge, or in a forest now. I haven't gotten weaker. I'm two percent bird, and sometimes the two percent adds up to be bigger than the ninety-eight percent human I'm made of."

She lifted my chin with her finger and looked me in the eye. "You may come from a dog crate, but you'll never belong in one, Nudge," she said, as the tears poured from my eyes and I cried into her hug, for the last time.

**Max POV **

The small motel room was in absolute chaos as Angel and Gazzy literally flew around trying to locate toys, games, clothes and Total. I wondered vaguely how he had even managed to come with us. I hadn't remembered him being with us for the entire trip, but I guess I'm just not a dog person. Or a pet person, or even remotely an animal person.

Iggy was stumbling around blindly, due to the new environment of the hotel room. He nearly tripped over something black and hairy that was lying halfway under the bed with a sheet over its head, to which Angle cried with delight. Apparently they had found Total. Tears, real tears, streamed down both of their faces. Total complained about how he was 'so lost down there', and Angel sobbed about how she 'thought she'd lost him'.

In the midst of all this confusion, there was a large bang, and the bed literally jumped two feet in the air, a hole being blown through the center. Fang shrieked, yes, shrieked, and jumped back. "Who just hid a bomb under there?" he cried, not noticing Gazzy's evil chuckle.

Off to the side and not paying much attention, having packed up all my stuff before the kids got back from their last trip to the pool, I was leaning against the wall, fingering the ring that I had no idea Fang had gotten, and had obviously had custom-made. When he had asked me to marry him, I was so caught off guard that I had assumed it was an impulse and not planned ahead.

I had been wrong. It was absolutely gorgeous. I know all girls say that, probably, but it really was. It was a gold band with a diamond in the center, very traditional. But that wasn't all. Sticking out from the sides of the ring were two crystalline wings with tiny bits of diamond on them. It caught the light in a way that made bits and pieces of sun shine on the walls like a disco ball.

I felt a pair of slim yet muscular arms wrap themselves around them, and I offered a sunny smile up to my slightly-charred fiancé. "You must like it, you keep staring at it," he grinned at me. "We can talk about dates and cakes and stuff later, don't worry."

"Please," I snorted. "I'm not gonna be one of those bridezillas who go crazy over their wedding. As long as I'm marrying you, I'd get married under a bridge with a cake that Iggy made from a box mix." I was impressed that I was finally able to say what I wanted to around Fang instead of hiding what I really felt.

"But you're not gonna, right?" he asked, uncertainly. "Cause if you want, I can take back the ring and replace it with a rubber band."

"Never!" I shrieked, holding my other hand in front of the ring. "Mine."

"No," he said, tilting my chin up. "Mine," he whispered, and kissed me lightly on the lips.

"You are the cheesiest," I mumbled.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Gazzy said, walking past us with Angel, Total and Iggy. "He's cheesy like macaroni or pizza or whatever. Can we go now?" I broke away from Fang, grumbling slightly. I should have noticed that it had gotten quieter.

"Fine. You all got your stuff?" I asked, just mildly annoyed now as I picked up my suitcase and my purse. Yes, Maximum Ride carries a purse now. I saw the best one ever in the mall and fell in love. And then Fang yelled at me for breaking the bank.

As we were getting halfway out the door, my eyes widened, remembering. "Wait, what about the hole in the bed? They'll see us and track us down, then make us do the honest thing and pay for it!"

Fang thought on it for a moment, and then walked back into the room. He grabbed a towel from the bathroom and threw it over the hole. "Let's go," he hurried us out, "before they catch us. We'll pay with cash and then get out, and it'll be there problem, and they won't find us." With one last tug we were in the elevator.

News flash – a ride in an elevator with three other people and a dog and all the suitcases you can carry is not fun, in any way, shape or form.

"Stop shoving!" I shouted as we were going down to the lobby, over the screaming voices of the others clamoring for some room, and pointedly shoved them into the opposite room. I sighed with relief for all of two seconds before they barreled right back into me. I was elbowed in the stomach more than once by Angel and Gazzy, which sent me doubling over in pain.

"I can't breathe!" yelled Gazzy overdramatically as he went under us all and crashed to the floor. We paid him no mind and kept right on shoving. "That's it," he choked from below us. "I'm gonna die before I even get to see Nudge again. Angel, help me out?" he begged.

"With pleasure," she answered. I felt another moment of peace before my mind was wiped completely blank and I was forced to stand rigid still. A small part of my brain wanted to scream and yell and elbow all I wanted to, but it was like I couldn't, and I didn't have the will necessary to resist.

The eyes of Fang and Iggy were large, round and dark, while Angel's remained exactly the same. I knew exactly what she was doing, then. She was controlling us. She was forcing us to be still so that we could all breathe and Gazzy could get off of the floor. I knew she was controlling me, but I couldn't find it within myself to be angry at her.

It continued peacefully like this until the elevator gave a small 'ding!' and we were out in the lobby. All of a sudden, I gasped as my will came back to me, and nearly fell over at the shock that I had just gotten. I wasn't calm anymore, I was furious, and the three of us descended on Angel and Gazzy.

We were breathing heavily and raggedly, and the color was slowly returning to our faces and eyes. If Fang had any difficulty, he didn't show it, but his face was as hard as stone as he turned to Angel. "That wasn't necessary," he seethed. "We don't need to be that helpless ever again. Do you understand?"

She looked away, ashamed, but he forced her head back up. "Do you understand, Angel?" he practically shouted. "This is serious! This isn't just some little game you can play with us when you want us to do something! You'll never do it again!"

She looked up at him then, pure unbridled anger in her eyes. "You're not my dad!" she screamed at him like a demon, and he jumped back. "You're not, and you never will be my dad! I don't have to do what you say! You're only my brother, so stop acting like you're all big! Just leave me alone!" she shouted, and ran out of the revolving door into the parking lot.

"What was that?" he hissed at me. "She never does that! This isn't like her, Max. She was fine a few minutes ago. She knows she's not supposed to do that!"

"I don't know what's going on," I said, "but we'll fix it. We'll fix it, and then we'll go get Nudge. I promise."

"I hope you're right," he said worriedly.

**Angel POV**

I yanked the door to the car open forcefully and climbed inside. I couldn't believe myself for acting the way I had. Now that I thought back on it, it seemed silly, and even immature. No more immature than Nudge had been at my age, but still like a big baby.

But no matter how I looked at it, it was true. Max and Fang were eight years older than me, but they weren't my parents. It wasn't fair for them to order me around like they were better than me, because were equal. They always seemed to forget that I was in a dog crate too. I was equal to them in almost every way, and just because they were older didn't give them the right to forget.

Now, the only thoughts that they had while they were in there, ignoring me and my tears, were of confusion and panic. I knew that they didn't need this right now, and I shouldn't be causing the problems here. That was Nudge's job, I thought with a grin.

I saw Fang coming toward the car, expecting the others to follow and punish me for my outburst. Even Gazzy acted so much older than me these days. He was only a stupid thirteen year old, and I'd always been more than him. Worst of all, he'd been ignoring me more and more since he'd been making friends, forgetting me, his only blood sister.

But when he got in the car, I saw that it was just going to be Fang. I put on my best determined face. "Go ahead," I challenged. "Tell me that I'm wrong and you have seniority. Tell me how you're sooo much better than me," I sneered.

"Drop the act and cut the crap, Angel," Fang said, "and talk to me straight for once. I don't think either one of us is better than the other. But I don't know what the hell that was back there. Someone's got to set the boundaries, and it for sure isn't gonna be you."

"What was I supposed to do? You were practically killing each other in there. I had to do something."

"Not that something, Angel. We told you a long time ago never, ever to control our minds like that unless it was a joke, like to slap ourselves or do a silly dance or something. What you just did proves that we still can't trust you."  
"What the hell?!" I exploded. "How come you get to use your powers whenever you want to but I can't use mine? I have them for a reason, you know, and that reason just kept you from stepping on Gazzy and suffocating to death! I believe the words you're looking for are 'thank you, Angel'!"

"My powers don't hurt anyone."

"Neither did mine! They just saved you, and they only help people!"

"You're not using them, and that's final."

"I hate you," I muttered.

**Nudge POV **

I was waiting quietly in the grand lobby of the hotel with my suitcase. I looked up at the paintings on the walls that were marvelously copied, the ionic columns and the leather furniture. Never in my life would I be in a hotel this nice again. It seemed like the best one in the world, even though I knew there were better ones.

And my heart skipped a beat in its usual way the second he walked in the door. His strawberry-blonde hair hung over his sightless eyes as he scanned the lobby, though not looking at anything in particular. I wondered briefly why they had sent the blind guy to find me. "Iggy," I called, and he made his way over to the couch I was sitting on.

"Hey," he said, and sat down next to me. We looked at one another nervously, and in an instant his lips had pressed themselves to mine and our hands were caressing each other's faces and hair. We were breathing raggedly, as though we hadn't seen each other in days, even though it had only been a few hours.

We continued until we were almost lying sideways on the couch, our breath catching messily and our heads at odd angles to get closer. A loud cough from somewhere else in the lobby sent us flying apart, trying to right our hair and smooth our clothes. "Now I know why they sent you in," I panted.

"We…they…well, we should get to the car," he said hesitantly, but not before giving me one more sweet, sweet kiss on the lips. I picked up the suitcase in one hand and grabbed his hand with the other. I got up and led him from the lobby into the California sun, where Max and the flock had moody expressions. I looked at my watch and realized they'd probably been sitting there for twenty minutes.

"Have fun?" Gazzy asked wryly as I got into the car, followed closely by Iggy. We took our place in the back of the minivan, right behind Angel and Gazzy. I blushed violently as Gazzy turned around and made kissy faces at me. I hit him over the head and put my suitcase down next to me.

"Shut up, Gazzy," Fang said easily, and I was grateful as he turned the conversation towards Gazzy. "One day you'll get a girlfriend –well, maybe, you can always dream- and you'll be all over her, you little pervert. So you just leave them alone now."

Gazzy turned five shades of red and quickly looked out the window, but not before Iggy snickered and was rewarded with a shoe chucked at his head.

After minutes upon minutes of awkward silence, I brought up the question that no one had dared to ask. "Max, where are we going after this? We…we have no home." The tears started to pour down my face, and even Iggy could tell. He put his arm around me without a word for comfort, but I could tell by how tense he was just the extent of his anxiety about the issue.

She took a deep, shuddering breath in. "I don't know," she answered. "We can't even go back to the same home. You guys…you'll have to lose all your friends. I don't know who did this, who told them. I can't believe anyone would do it."

My heart almost stopped. They didn't know, and that was why they were taking me back. They weren't angry at me because they didn't know. "Stop the car," I said faintly.

"What was that, Nudge?" Max asked absently, fiddling with her hair.

"Stop the car!" I yelled. "Stop the car, stop the car!!!"

She slammed on the breaks and pulled to the side of the road.

**Max POV**

I looked on as Nudge jumped out the side of the minivan and out into the tall grass by the side of the road. We looked out on her anxiously for a moment, and then followed. She stopped, suddenly, a good ten feet from us, with her back still turned. I grew more afraid when she didn't turn around. Whatever was coming, it wasn't going to be good.

It was dead silent, except for the cars going on the road behind us. That's why I remember every word that Nudge said that day, and why I got the shock of my life.

Her voice carried in the silence. It was eerie, and I pleaded with the very universe for it to stop, but it wouldn't as she finally spoke. "It was me."

No one dared to ask her what that meant, and we didn't have to, because she continued. "It was me. I gave you up. When they asked where you were….I gave them the address."

We started to protest, to speak, but she silenced us by turning around, her face contorted with rage, pain, hurt and anxiety. Her voice was little more than a whisper when she spoke again, but I heard her with no trouble. "I had no choice," she almost sobbed. "He said he'd turn me out on the street. You…you didn't want me." The tears streamed down her face freely now. "That's why…it's my fault you can't go back to your home," she cried softly. "I'm a traitor, and you can't trust me."

"Nudge, who is 'he'?" I asked cautiously.

She went on ignoring me. "And they sent out a team to search for you. I was," her voice broke, "I was so happy when they told me you weren't there, but they would have turned me out on the street then if I hadn't had my agent stand up for me."

She slumped to the ground and cried. I wanted it to stop so badly, but she kept sobbing. When she looked up, her face had heartbreak stamped all over it. "And you know the worst thing?" she hissed. "I can't remember it all, Max. And I never will. The memories are all fading. All of them, not just the ones with Iggy. They'll be gone by tomorrow, and there's nothing I can do!" She screamed the last part at the sky.

Iggy stumbled forward, feeling blindly until he found her and slumped down with her. He held her firmly as huge sobs wracked her body, and I soon realized that he was crying too. I had almost never seen Iggy cry in his life, and during the past few months, it was more than ever.

She pushed him away limply. "Get away from me!" she hissed at him. "I betrayed you! I betrayed all of you by giving you up! Drive away and leave me here!" she bit her lip. "I don't want to cause any more trouble for anyone. I thought I could lie to you, but I can't! So leave me here!"

"No!" he shouted. "There's got to be a way to get your memory back! This is like surviving the whole Titanic thing and dying a day later of a heart attack. We've come way too far for this to happen now!"

"Face it!" she yelled at him. "It's a lost cause with me! I'm going to forget everything in a day, and there's nothing, nothing that we can do." She buried her head in her hands in despair.

Angel's eyes lit up then. "You know," she said thoughtfully, "I've been a real brat lately. I just yelled at Fang and Max, and only yesterday I practically got Ella on medication for stuff that's not her fault. Not that she didn't deserve it, of course.

"So, now I'm going to do something for the good of doing it, something that'll make a hell of a difference to all of you, and something that'll put my powers to good use. I don't know if it'll work, and I'm powerful, but I'm not a miracle worker. And I'll admit it, if it doesn't work, Nudge is right. She'll be a lost cause." Upon hearing this, Nudge sobbed even harder.

"But if it does work," Angel said quietly, "You'll get your memory back, Nudge." When she looked up, there was hope in her eyes.

"Let's do it," Nudge said quietly.

"Max, Fang, Iggy, Gazzy, I know it sounds weird, but put all eight of your hands on my head, right now," she commanded. I looked up hesitantly and slowly moved forward to put both my hands on her head. The others did the same until we were completely covering her head. "Make sure the hands aren't layered," she commanded, and we made sure they weren't.

"Now, think quickly, think of every memory you've ever had of Nudge. She's never had an important memory that we weren't there to see. Fang, remember the memory with the hawks, Iggy, remember your love for her, Max, remember our experience in Europe with Ter Borcht, and Gazzy, remember all your pranks on her, all the bombs she watched you make, her birthdays, anything. You guys get the picture. Remember, and remember hard."

Slowly but surely, I imagined all my times of Nudge. I saw her with Iggy, and I saw her sarcasm. I saw her laugh at our humor, and I saw her flying in the sky with grace and poise. I saw her falling onto the plane. I sent all these memories floating into Angel's mind. She was grimacing while trying to receive all these new pieces of information, but she was taking it all in, I was sure. I sent everything I had and more into Angel, and put one hundred and ten percent of my effort into making it work.

All the while, I was praying. _Please, God, let it work. _

Angel closed her eyes. After a few more moments, they flashed open. "Now, take your hands off. It's enough."

"Wait!" Iggy said. "Um, Angel, this is going to be embarrassing, but…" he lowered his voice. "Can I give her the night in the cornfield?"

Angel laughed. "Believe me, Iggy, thanks to Fang, there's nothing I haven't seen." And he sent her that memory too.

"Now, come over here, Nudge," she ordered, and placed her hands on Nudge's. We all took a deep breath as Angel spoke. "I'm going to see if I can transport these memories into her. Whenever she's losing some, I'll always be able to transport more in. My brain stores memories more than anything else, because I have a mental power rather than a physical one."

Nudge's hands trembled violently under Angel's, and I found myself praying again. "Close your eyes," Angel soothed, and Nudge did.

I don't know how long I waited like that. It could have been seconds, or hours, or even days. It could have been a whole lifetime, but I don't think it was.

In three minutes and seventeen seconds, Nudge opened her eyes.

**And we draw closer to the end! What will happen AFTER Nudge opens her eyes, hmm? Review! **

**~Rachel**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N - Wow. Looking back, I have realized that there's been ANGST. Whatever xD Lots of you seem to like it. I also seem to be better at writing it than anything else D: Forgive me for not updating recently, I've just been a bit...discouraged...about my writing recently (you know, 'is it good enough', 'do people hate it', etc.). And then I remembered that I love it! ^_^ The next chapter is for anyone who has been following this story. **

**Memories of You **

**Chapter 10**

**Nudge POV **

I waited an eternity for Angel's plan to start working. I panicked even further when she held my hands. This was it. Basically, life or death. What was going to happen to me rested solely in the hands of the one child on earth who could transfer thoughts. I didn't know that she even _could _transfer memories, and to be honest, she probably didn't know she could either. My whole future was based on some eleven year old _winging it, _no pun intended.

So there we were. Eight hands plastered all over Angel's head, eight hands belonging to the people I loved and cared about more than anything in the world, who I had been to hell and back with. And then, two much smaller hands grasped firmly in mine. Waiting, always waiting, waiting for a miracle.

And then an amazing sensation hit me. Rushing through my brain, I saw brief glimpses of everything. I saw Ter Borcht, and I saw Doctor Martinez's cookies. I saw leaving Max and mentioning chopping my wings off, and I saw the U-Do place in New York.

I saw many things that I would have truly liked to forget. Years in dog crates, being trapped and _almost _auctioned off in Europe, the battle between Max and Max II. Fang punching out a flyboy, picking up Total and watching Ari die. Everything I had ever known was here in front of me, and I could see it, and I could _remember it. _Because the memories were mine, too.

I opened my eyes and smiled at them, and they breathed a sigh of relief. I knew it wasn't over, so I closed my eyes again and kept receiving the memories.

It was all flying past me. I would turn my head to follow it and it would be gone, the memory never in my grasp but rather in the back of my mind, in my memories. I was lost. I was floating on a cloud, I was drowning in the ocean, I was stuck in a rainbow. The last place I thought I would expect to find myself was in a field off the highway.

I closed my eyes and went with it. I didn't know if I would remember this, or how often we would have to transfer memories, but I knew it was working. And this time, I had other memories, precious ones that I had just barely forgotten.

I heard my name being called. I heard Max's voice, commanding and powerful as usual. If it had been anyone else, they wouldn't have heard the desperate plea hidden underneath it, but I did.

I felt someone grabbing me roughly by the shoulders, but it was as if their hands were feathers. I felt a thousand miles away. Yet, just from the small guesture, I knew immediately that it was Fang.

Someone called for me to come back. I heard anxiety and worry, and most importantly, love. Memories were going by me all the time, but I had forgotten about them for the moment. It was Iggy who was calling me, his voice mixing with Max's.

A hand was prodding my forehead, poking my eye and tapping my face. It was rather annoying, and I tried to push it away. Then I realized that I hadn't moved my head at all, and that I wasn't _moving _at all. I felt myself rushing through the air, and I felt a light pain in my back as I crashed to the ground.

The hand kept tapping my head, hurting me now. I tried to cry out, and nothing happened. I started to panic and thrash out, but it was only in my brain. In reality, I was as cold as a stone, dead as a doornail for all they knew. I felt it poke my eye again, and I wanted to scream at Gazzy. I was awake, damn it!

But if I knew my family this much, that even without seeing them or knowing who they were, or even having any idea where they were, I knew who they were and what they were doing, then didn't I have memories of them deep inside me, that would never really fade?

Why was it that even a few days ago when I thought I was done for, I could still remember my family, the one thing that I should have forgotten, and in reality, the memories had stayed the longest? Why was it that I hadn't forgotten them, even though, by all rights, I should have? Was it that I refused to let go of them completely?

Slowly, I started to fall under. I grew drowsy and started to feel like just giving up already. I'd certainly done enough. Maybe I could just rest…

Suddenly, a thousand volts of electricity flew through my body, and I was entirely overwhelmed with memories and the feeling that I was going to die. I couldn't feel anything, and yet I could feel everything. Compared to the sensation I had been feeling, this one came quickly and without warning.

It lasted half a second, but the impact was great. I was shocked into a sitting position, I knew, but my eyes were still closed and the world seemed to be getting farther and farther away. I didn't see a bright light or anything.

I couldn't seem to form a coherent thought. It was jumbles of things. A few minutes ago, I had been on the top of the world, rushing through the sky. And now, I was tumbling into pitch-black darkness.

I couldn't think. I couldn't move. I couldn't scream.

_That's it, then. After all that, it's over anyway. _

**Max POV **

In a second, what we had been confident about turned into complete and utter chaos. Angel was grasping her hands frantically, trying both to send more memories in and wake her up. "She's giving up!" Angel screamed. "I can hear her thoughts! I don't know what happened, but she's giving up!"

"What do you mean, giving up?" Iggy growled anxiously. "She doesn't want to live anymore, is that what you mean?" Angel nodded briefly, not caring if he was blind. He shook Nudge's shoulders, as if begging her to wake up.

Nudge was lying on the ground, her eyes closed. She had been breathing calmly and contentedly at first, but now her breath was hitching, turning into quick pants and finally gasping for air. She was losing it fast.

"No!" screamed Angel. "I'm going to lose her! She's getting farther away, Max, and she won't wake up! Oh, God, when I said it might not work, I never meant this!" She slapped Nudge across the face, beat on her shoulders and shook her, but Nudge wouldn't wake up. "You're hurting her!" Fang shouted, restraining Angel.

"No, she's dying!" Angel writhed like a possessed child and wriggled out of Fang's grasp. She knelt beside Nudge and put her hands on Nudge's shoulders. She winced as she sent a volt of mental electricity a mile wide to wake Nudge up.

Nudge was immediately thrown into a sitting position, her eyes still closed. When they did open, they rolled back in her head as she collapsed again, this time not breathing at all. I fell to my knees as the others struggled around her. There were tears pouring down the Gasman's face. "Nudge," he pleaded. "Please be okay, Nudge."

Fang's face was hard and unemotional as he sat back and watched, helplessly, just like me. Angel was the only one who could take care of this. She had started it in the first place. Oh, God.

Nudge was really dying. I had pictured this, but always at a later age and out of nowhere, not after a huge struggle we'd fought so hard to prevent. _Maybe this is a lesson, _I thought bitterly. _Maybe we shouldn't have held her back. _I was instantly ashamed. She was my family, the only family I had.

She wasn't moving. Her chest wasn't rising and falling, and I felt at her wrist for a pulse. I found none. I bit the inside of my lip to keep from screaming as I felt at her heart. There was nothing, not the faintest heartbeat. "There's no heartbeat," Fang said expressionlessly, taking it all in. "She's…she's really dead."

"No!" Iggy roared helplessly. "She is not gone!" he screamed, tackling Fang into the dirt. Fang lay still and didn't make any move to strike back as Iggy pounded on Fang's stomach. "She-is-not-_gone_!" he said between every punch.

And yet, there she was on the dirt, in front of us.

**Angel POV **

I felt the line inside Nudge, the one hanging by a thread between life and death, snap. I saw her chest stop rising and falling. I felt her wrists, and there was no pulse. Every one of the signs told me she was gone, and I still didn't believe it. I didn't really believe my little 'experiment' had gone that horribly wrong.

I watched as Iggy tackled Fang to the ground for even suggesting that she was dead. Fang didn't groan or even blink with every punch that came, didn't wince as Iggy's tears fell on his face. Iggy, in his blind rage, was going insane with the possibility that the only one he had was gone.

Fang was getting angrier. Suddenly his arm snapped out and hit Iggy in the face, sending him flying off. Fang took this opportunity to jump on Iggy and beat the living crap out of him. Iggy fought back feebly.

And it all rested squarely on my shoulders. I was the one who claimed that I could save her, when in reality I was just a kid. Just an eleven year old kid who was stupid for thinking she could even make a difference in life by saving anyone. That had always been Max's job, who was I kidding?

Nudge was dead because of me. I had destroyed Iggy's perfect other half because I said I could fix her. I hadn't fixed anything; I'd ended a life and destroyed a family that was already falling apart.

Gazzy was silent as he sank to his knees and sobbed. I wanted to put my arm around him and tell him it would be alright, but it wouldn't, and it was my fault. Max was sitting with her head in her hands, tears pouring from the cracks in between her fingers.

I gasped. After all of that, I had forgotten Iggy's last request – to put in the night in the cornfield. I had saved it to be the best for last, but Nudge hadn't even gotten that far. And she had died without that memory. Slowly, I extended my hand to touch Nudge's. No one noticed me, with the fight that was now raging between Fang and Iggy.

I felt that familiar rush of energy as I sent the memory, which was not mine, into Nudge. I put all the love I'm sure Iggy was feeling into the memory, which I immediately put into her. It was the last memory I would ever give to my sister, my best friend.

**Nudge POV **

The next thing I knew, I was feeling another memory. Incredibly weak and pissed as hell, I let it come through all the same. A flood of warmth came through me as I received it and smiled internally at the memory. Suddenly, I was feeling something. The will to live.

Where there had been darkness, there was light now. Where there had been death, there was only life now. I wanted to live, and hell, I was going to. My eyelids fluttered briefly before my eyes opened a second time.

**Angel POV **

With one last sharp prick of energy, the memory slid into Nudge's skin and out of mine. I felt a strange emptiness, like because the memory was gone, she was gone too. The wind blew around us slightly, but the last thing I felt was peace. My family was sobbing, fighting and broken apart. I had never realized how much Nudge meant to us.

I had thought it was over, and almost accepted that she wasn't coming back. It was an odd, empty feeling, but what was I supposed to do? My sister, my best friend, who I always wanted to be, was dead in front of me. Or, she was supposed to be. But then I saw her stir quietly, her eyes still quiet.

I rubbed my eyes in disbelief. It had to be a dream, or a mirage. A hallucination. Whatever it was, I was positive that it wasn't really her. Had losing her made me this desperately insane? She still didn't have a pulse.

In one swift motion, she proved me wrong. She gasped, eyes still closed, as she started breathing again. It was irregular and far too quiet. It was very weak, but it slowly grew stronger. I turned toward the flock in a mix of panic and joy.

Max was sprawled on her side with her head in her hands, a very un-leader like position. It almost looked like she wanted to join Nudge in giving up. But she hadn't remembered that Nudge had never been that kind of person. Nudge would give up when hell froze over.

Gazzy was in the middle of Fang and Iggy, trying to save them from beating each other to bloody pulps. Fang paid him no attention as he swept Gazzy aside with his hand and continued punching Iggy. Iggy groaned in response, to tired and sick with regret and grief to care.

This wasn't how it was supposed to end. If a flock member ever died, it was supposed to bring us together in our pain, at least to know that we all cared about each other. This was far worse than I could have ever foreseen.

I inched forward in the grass until I was squatting near her head. I saw her struggling between life and death, a world of tension behind her eyelids. A weak pulse was growing with her breathing, and I almost died myself when I picked up the first thoughts from her.

_I can't die now. _

**Max POV **

I rolled over on my side, burying my face further into my hands. I heard Fang and Iggy next to me, turning against each other even though I felt like ripping them off of each other and knocking some sense into them. I just couldn't find the strength to do anything anymore. After all we'd been through to keep her alive and get her back, it was going to end like this. On a highway, with people staring at us through their car windows.

"Stop it," I sobbed as they continued. I heard a fist smashing with a thud into a stomach, and I heard Gazzy crawling through the grass. He didn't want his brothers fighting, and I was too weak to do anything. A thirteen year old boy was doing my work for me.

I had no more tears. I couldn't cry anymore. I had cried a thousand tears throughout this whole affair when everyone's back was turned, and now that a flock member was dead, I had no more tears. I was cried out for my entire life.

I heard a soft groan come from a few feet away, and I knew I was losing it. Now I was hearing things, great, just great. It was driving us all insane, just perfect. Way to be a leader, Max.

Footsteps coming through the grass. They stopped right in front of me and I knew someone was squatting quietly. If it was Angel, I wasn't talking to her. I knew I shouldn't be angry at her, that she hadn't meant to, but she had ultimately killed Nudge. I could never look at her the same way again.

"Max," the voice said softly, and I peeked through my hands. There, in a sort of weak, pathetic glory, was Nudge.

I didn't know whether to throw my arms around her, scream and run away or stare at her in horror. I gaped at her for more than a few minutes, but she just smiled at me as the chaos of the fighting boys raged around us, completely oblivious to her.

"I'm back, Max," she smiled with tears in her eyes. Just when I thought that I would never cry again in my life, a fresh spurt of tears came from my eyes as I pulled myself into a sitting position and hugged my sister, my sister who I had almost lost.

"I remember everything," Nudge rushed on, and I couldn't tell whose tears, hers or mine, were falling down my neck. "Max, I have all of the memories inside of me now. Just when I wanted to die and give up, Angel gave me…_that _memory, and, well, here I am."

I pulled back and smiled wryly. "Who would have thought that Iggy and his perverseness would someday save us?" I joked. I looked over to the boy in question, who was currently covered with bruises and sporting a particularly large black eye. "Go," I said softly. "Maybe then they can see what idiots they're being." I gave a shaky laugh.

I looked across the field at Angel, and gave her a half-smile, a guilty smile. We had really been through a lot through the years. Not to mention her acting like a traitor for a couple. But how could I not love her and trust her as much as anything? "Get over here," I whispered, and she was in my arms.

Tears streaked her golden blond hair as I gave her a real hug for what felt like the first time in ages. And just like that, she was my baby Angel again, my precious baby girl that she would always be, no matter what. Just like it was before, in the E shaped house. Just like it would be from now on.

"I'm so sorry, Max," she said, but I didn't have to. That's the great thing about a mind reader.

**Nudge POV **

I smiled to myself as I walked away from Max and toward the boys, those nitwits. They were so wrapped up in fighting that they didn't even notice as I crept up. I noticed Iggy's face, and I was immediately angry at Fang. But then I noticed Fang's bloody nose, cuts and bruises and I felt ashamed of Iggy. And I was pissed as hell at both of them for hurting Gazzy.

I got there just in time to see Fang ready to punch Iggy. I drew in a breath, ran a few feet and summoned the best kick flip I could manage, ending up with a roundhouse kick to Fang's chest, sending him flying a few feet. Not my best, but oh well.

Iggy looked up angrily. "Max, don't get between us," he growled. "My girlfriend that I loved more than anything in the world just died and this bastard thinks he can fight me, he's got another thing coming!" I was startled. He thought I was Max? Well, it was only natural.

Fang was out cold. Maybe I hadn't done such bad work on him after all.

I heard footsteps behind me as I whirled to see Max with a smirk on her face. Oh, no. She was about to play 'let's-torture-the-blind-guy'.

"I understand," she said in a voice that made my skin crawl. It was supposed to come off as sympathetic, and it probably would have to anyone who didn't know exactly what she was doing.

"Max, you don't have a damn clue," he said furiously. "I had a whole life pictured for me and her. Do you know what I was going to do later tonight?" he asked in a tortured voice. "I was going to ask her to _marry me, _Max, and now she's gone. How am I supposed to feel? So you can ask me to stop fighting all you want. Go to hell, all of you."

I had never seen Iggy like this, so broken up over everything, even in the last few weeks. He was struggling not to cry, and he gave one more shuddering breath before looking straight at me. "You don't know what it's like," he finished. "You have Fang, for the rest of your life, whether your sister's dead or not. I have _no one._"

I smiled and rolled my eyes as I squatted next to him. Max, knowing now that I wasn't dead, was probably enjoying this more than anything. I reached out to cup his cheek with my hand. I had a smaller hand than Max, and it wasn't as rough, and boy did he know it.

I smirked as I leaned in and pressed my lips to his. I had technically just died, after all, because my heart had stopped beating. And dying makes you think about things, let me tell you.

I grasped the side of his face with both hands and kissed him with everything I had. Smiling even more as he held me back, I found myself practically sitting in his lap with my legs wrapped around his waist. Let the people in the cars stare. Let the flock stare. We were in California, after all.

I kissed him like I would never let him go. He was the only one for me always, and I think he'd made it pretty clear that I was the only one for him. We were as good for each other as Max and Fang, even better in my opinion.

"Nudge," he whispered in front of everyone as we continued to kiss.

"Glad to hear you didn't think I was Max," I raised an eyebrow.

"You have distinctly smaller hands," he mused.

"Now what was this marriage thing?" I smirked as his eyes widened and he pulled away.

"Max!" he roared at her. "I hate it when you do that! I thought she'd just died and all you can think about is pranking me!"

"Hey," I said irritably as I turned his head back towards me. "Is that a real offer?"

"Do you want it to be?" he asked, bewildered.

I gulped. "Y-yeah," I whispered.

Fang sat up in the grass from where I'd kicked him and rubbed his head groggily.  
"Not that I don't love this sweet and touching love fest," he complained, "but can you guys do this in the back of the minivan?"

"Wait," I said, getting up. We have something to take care of first."

I caught the flock's questioning stares. "I'll fill you in after we get in the car."

**Max POV **

"And lastly, you will never, ever, sent any more of your little troops to find us, wherever we're going," I finished. Looking down, I came to wonder how we got in this position, holding Nudge's agent's stepfather upside down over the edge of a forty story building. Not to say I hadn't resorted to this before, but I'd just hoped it was something I'd never have to do again.

I forgot how much I loved it.

I personally thought my speech was very good.

"This is _illegal_!" he protested. "I won't let you do this! Damn, where are security when you need them…"

"I'm done!" Nudge hollered. It was about time, too. She came flying over with a draft of our 'contract' to said man dangling from the tip-top of the building.

"This," she panted, "states that you're to leave us alone and keep all details out of the press. We will be moving away from our current home, but should you happen to find us again, you legally have to refrain from sending your _dogs _after us, or we can sue _you._"

"You need my signature," he pointed out irritably.

"Oh, I have ways of making that happen," I said, loosening my hold on his ankle the tiniest bit. It was enough for him to become two inches closer to a man-in-suit sandwich, much to Gazzy and Angel's glee. Fang was snapping pictures for the scrapbooks all the while.

"Never!" he screamed.

"I think the word you're looking for is _splat,_" Iggy said smugly.

"Alright, alright!" he shouted as I released three of my fingers from his ankle, holding him with my thumb and forefinger. "Give me the damn pen, I'll sign it!"

Turns out, signing a document and reading it thoroughly while hanging upside down is quite the challenge. The first pen fell out of his grasp. "Tick, tock," Gazzy said in a singsong voice.

He just barely had time to pull the pen out of his coat pocket and sign it before he dropped to the ground. We gave him three seconds of sheer torture before Nudge swooped down and got him.

"I'll give you a call next time we're in Hollywood!" I shouted as I stuffed the document into my pocket. Gazzy cackled and gave the guy the finger before following me. Angel just gave her signature sunny smile.

Hand and hand, Nudge and Iggy just gave one sorry glance back at the poor, lonely man. My own hand was grasped by the love of _my _life.

Was this happily ever after?

There I was with my family. If anything proved that we would always be together, it was this whole ordeal. Now that we were nearing the end of it,

I launched myself off the building and into the air, my flock close behind me.

**This is not the end, sorry xD It was a little rushed -why do I always write before I go to sleep?- so I'll make a nice LONG one next time lol. Reviews are loved. I repeat, reviews are loved. I'll update this as soon as I can, but I have like five other stories that need updating. T__T **

**~Rachel**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N - Once again, this isn't the end of the story. I appreciate all the reviews and all the people who have been following the story, I decided to make this a little longer. The story was supposed to be ten chapters, but I needed more ^^ Leave a review! **

**Memories of You **

**Chapter 11**

**Angel POV **

After everything that had been happening the last few days, it really made you think of how lucky you were. Who would've thought that in the end, Nudge's memory would have been what saved her? We were all happy to have her in our lives again.

Maybe I should have been worrying about more important things, considering that we still had a lot of work to do to pull our lives back together, but for some reason, all I was really preoccupied with was carrying out my plan to make Ella's life a living hell. Oh, you thought it was finished? True, she was now covered in huge red itchy spots thanks to my itching powder. True, her mother had gotten her to see a therapist even though there was nothing –besides being a bitch- psychologically wrong with her. But it just wasn't enough.

There were certain things that I had to take care of. It was for sure that we wouldn't be seeing Ella any time soon, despite loving Dr. Martinez like a mom, more than anything. So I might as well have a little fun with this. For the last time, I opened Fang's laptop to her bedroom cam, because those weren't the end of my tricks.

You see, Ella had made an appointment to get her hair cut right after we left. It had been delayed a little because of our crisis, but she had just gotten it cut yesterday. What she didn't know was that I paid the hair stylist to do certain specific things with her hair.

It was clear from the moment she walked into her room that she was as pissed as hell. She was turned away from the camera for a moment, but that was enough for me to see her haircut. Half of it was normal, but the other half was cropped as short as Iggy's, much to her disapproval. But how was she to realize that when he was cutting her hair?

What no one knew about Ella was that it took a lot of work to make her the beautiful, cute girl she was on the outside. Every few months, she went into a special salon –the one the paid hair stylist worked at- to get her eyebrow and lip waxed.

When she turned around, not noticing the camera, I almost doubled over. One eyebrow had been completely ripped off –this was the last thing to do, because she could feel it, I'm guessing the stylist ran- and the other had been waxed so that it was in an ugly zigzag pattern over her left eye.

And no one would have guessed that before the lip waxing went on, Ella was hiding the ugliest lip fuzz you ever saw. Because she was Hispanic, she had dark, course hairs. The lip waxer was careful to wax _around _them. So, I had taken what meant the most to her – her appearance. Try growing back that eyebrow, Ella.

Gazzy looked over my shoulder, and he was ready to die. After watching the girl strip and getting it into his head that she was as good as a model, all his sick little fantasies were shattered. Of course, that didn't stop him from snapping a quick picture on his phone, which he emailed to fifty people in his school. It would reach the high school in a few hours.

No one had the heart to tell Iggy of course, but it wasn't as if he would have cared. Finally, after the whole Ella mess, he had figured out that he had the best girl in the world right there next to him. It had taken him a while, and the road had been bumpy, but he had finally gotten there.

I shut the laptop with a grin. There wouldn't be any more messing with Ella, I'd had enough of that for one lifetime.

**Nudge POV **

A while down the road, we stopped at a gas station to grab food for the road. My eyes widened as I remembered it, even though I rightfully shouldn't have. None of the flock had been here, just me. This was the gas station that I'd stopped at when the reporters had found me. I grinned as I walked inside. The cashier seemed genuinely surprised to see me.

Max walked down the aisles trying to find high-calorie stuff that was cheap. We filled a bag with chips and bought lots of poptarts and things like that. Max bought a huge can of Red Bull for Fang, because he was the one driving us home for hours.

I went to the register with a twenty dollar bill and handed it to the cashier, an Asian guy in his twenties, who gave it back just as quickly. "You're one from earlier," he beamed at me. "Really cool, really cool. Flying kids, yes? On the house." I smiled at him. It was like seeing an old friend.

I grabbed the stuff off the counter and followed the flock back out to the car. "Dang," Fang complained. "If we'd known it was gonna be on the house, we could've gotten a lot more." Yup, that was definetly Fang. Always looking for a way to save a quick buck.

"Alright," Max said once we were in the car. "We're in California, and we're going to Arizona. I figure we'll get some stuff from our house and then try to get an apartment somewhere."

"Why can't we just live there?" Gazzy asked.

"Because the press already knows where we live. The fact that we got that document signed doesn't change that. We have to find another place, one where no one knows us. I'm sorry, guys, but that means we have to completely start over. I know you have lives and friends, but that's the way it is."

And I felt guilty. I knew that this would take another effort to make new friends, only to have the flock broken apart. Iggy and I would probably be going off on our own, leaving Gazzy and Angel with Max and Fang. Gazzy and Angel would be the ones with a sacrifice to make.

"That's fine," Gazzy said, which surprised me. "It's a lot easier than some of the things we've been through, so I don't exactly mind moving. All that matters is that we have everything pretty much back to normal with our family whole again."

"Dude. That was deep," Iggy said flatly, and I elbowed him.

The next half hour or so was really peaceful. We were still in California, looking out the window and enjoying the sights. Max was starting to fall asleep, and my head was on Iggy's shoulder as he wrapped his arms protectively around me. The only noise was the clicking of Gazzy's thumbs on his Nintendo.

In a few minutes, Max was asleep and Fang was starting to doze off. He reached for his Red Bull and took a large gulp. Iggy was asleep under me, breathing peacefully. I was starting to nod off myself, right when everything exploded.

**Max POV **

I was jerked awake by a huge noise on the roof of the car, and I wiped some drool from the corner of my mouth as I examined the dent in the ceiling. I heard Nudge scream as a machete sliced through the roof of the car. Everyone ducked except for Fang, who was desperately trying to keep an eye on the road.

There was definetly someone up there who wanted to kill us. Even though I just woke up, I immediately went into protect-my-life mode, and I rolled down the window all the way. "What are you doing?" Fang shouted, but I ignored him over the roar of the wind and crawled through the window. I motioned for Nudge to follow me. Angel started to come, too, but I shook my head no.

Fang was driving and Iggy was blind, and Gazzy was too young. I would take Angel, but the top of the car was small enough, and it'd certainly be hard enough to stay up there with me, Nudge and our attacker. It was a really good thing that we were driving a minivan.

I pulled myself out the window and looked up. In front of us was a person of some sort, cloaked entirely in black ninja clothes and a machete in one hand. It was only one person, I grinned. This wouldn't take any time at all.

"I've been sent to exterminate you," he or she said, I couldn't really tell, and I knew it was from Nudge's agent's stepfather. He held his machete high, which was mistake number one.

"You're really bad at this," I grunted as I swung my legs over the edge and kicked the ninja's shins in, causing him or her to stumble and almost fall off the car. They were obviously already struggling to stay on top of the car. "Ninjas don't really talk, now do they?"

Nudge opened her own window and flipped nimbly out, kicking the ninja hard in the chest and sending it flying off. It quickly shot a rope from an extension on its sleeve, and pulled itself back onto the car. Nudge and I were fighting with our inhuman strength to stay on top of the moving car.

Nudge looked at me and nodded, and I nodded back. She jumped up and flipped so that her hands were on my shoulders with me standing up. She swung herself forward and kicked the ninja hard in the face, catching him or her off guard and sending them spiraling onto the side of the road. We watched as they vanished into the distance.

Just as we were leaving, another ninja dropped from the sky. That was when we looked up and noticed the helicopter that had been hovering above us the whole time. The new ninja was a woman this time, and she was quicker, and more agile.

She dropped on her hands and knees and swung her leg around quickly, almost hitting Nudge, but Nudge had better ideas. She jumped off the fan and launched herself into the air. I knew what she was doing. She was taking out the helicopter full of ninjas.

I pulled the old ninja's machete out of the car, not really sure how to use it but getting a pretty good idea. I swished it around and almost sliced the ninja in half, then grinned as I advanced on her. Big mistake.

I swung the machete through the air again, and the ninja launched herself off the roof and over my head. She stood behind me and kicked my feet out from under me. The machete landed somewhere on the side of the road. I bit back a groan of pain as I fell to my knees.

Suddenly, the ninja flung herself off the car and into the car behind us, hitting it with a dull thud and then rolling off to rest on the side of the road with the machete. She rubbed her back, and when she tried to get back up, she couldn't. That might've broken her leg.

I glanced around, wondering why she did that, then my eyes narrowed skeptically as I smiled at Angel, trying to crawl out of the car window. I offered her my hand and pulled her up. We were almost ready to fly up to help Nudge when another ninja dropped in front of me. Nudge was doing her best to hold them off, but there were around ten in the helicopter.

Angel glared at it and concentrated, got that look in her eye like she was about to control the ninja's mind. Then, out of nowhere, another ninja dropped out of the sky. This was good…and bad. The ninja landed on the other ninja, both of them unconscious now. But the ninja's boot had hit Angel's head, and she, too, was unconscious.

I groaned to myself and shoved Angel back inside the car hastily. Then I shoved the other two ninjas off the side of the car and onto the grass. I glanced up at Nudge, so concerned with fighting that she hadn't even realized she had kicked a ninja onto Angel.

I got on my knees and swung my head upside down in the car window to see how everyone was doing. Iggy was looking around nervously and Gazzy was holding his phone onto the roof, snapping pictures wildly. Fang smiled when he saw my face. But I had just made mistake number two.

I heard the fourth ninja land on the roof, but I wasn't quick enough in swinging around. The ninja kicked me in the back with cleats, sending me spiraling off the edge, holding on to the car with a single hand. The ninja squatted and started to peel back my fingers…one…by…one.

It was almost over when I only had my index finger left. I clawed at the minivan and finally joisted my feet back over the edge, rolling onto the hood and crawling up the windshield. Fang swerved suddenly because I was in his wan, and I was thrown onto the neighboring car. The driver didn't look too happy.

I jumped quickly back to our minivan, tackling the ninja to the ground and punching it –well, him, I discovered- in the face. Blood erupted from his nose and I tossed him off the car. Gazzy came up and crawled through the window, and shooed me off to help Nudge while another ninja dropped. Gazzy grinned evilly before tackling it and shoving a fake bomb down its shirt just to make it panic.

I jumped off the fan and flew up to the helicopter that was following it closely. I saw Nudge inside the opening where she could have fallen off at any time but instead was on the floor punching a ninja's face in. I flew in and swung my legs out to face me, plowing into one of the ninjas and sending them spiraling downwards a good fifty feet. Well, that one was dead.

I saw Gazzy on the ground fighting with the ninja, but Gazzy had grown some in the last five years. He had enough power now to take down things much more powerful than some ninja-thing.

Nudge grabbed one of them and just plain threw him out of the helicopter. There were only a few left now, and I was fighting to the death. And by death, I meant _their _death. Another one jumped down to deal with Gazzy after he took out the first one, and he promptly ran to another car.

The ninja jumped with him, but Gazzy snapped his leg out and pushed it back. It rolled over to the side of the road, doubling over in pain. Gazzy crouched on the top of the other car, waiting for another one to come down.

I didn't want to kill them anymore, but we needed to get them off. I grabbed the one flying the helicopter and yanked it off, leaving him or her for Nudge to deal with. I guided the helicopter down as best I could, and turned it swiftly. Nudge was hovering in midair, but all the ninjas fell out. But thanks to us being closer to the ground, at least they didn't die.

I waved down to Gazzy, who gave me a thumbs up as he kicked the last unconscious ninja off the car. Nudge sat down next to me in the copilot's seat as she followed the minivan. Gazzy climbed back into the car and rolled up the windows, and we were flying –well, in a helicopter- back home.

"Looks like we forgot to put 'don't send killer ninjas after us' in the document," Nudge mused.

**Back in California **

The old man looked up from where he was sitting to stare over at his stepdaughter. What a worthless waste of space. Ever since her mother died, he had no need for her, but he had truly loved the woman. When she had told him to watch over her daughter, did he really have a choice? He had given her a job, taken her in, and now she betrayed him? Oh, he was going to have his revenge now that those meddling children were gone.

She was still struggling in the chair across from him, even though it had been four hours already. The ropes that bound her to the chair weren't even beginning to come loose, and the piece of duct tape and cotton in her mouth weren't allowing her to speak, yet she was still squirming impatiently.

He knew that by respects, what he was doing was illegal. If anyone found out, he could go to prison, but he didn't care. This woman was the one who had stood up for that young girl and her friends and cost him the opportunity of making a fortune by selling them to a foreign country as weapons, studying them to give the public more information.

Now he just had to figure out what to do with her. She was going to face the disappointment he had suffered, one way or another.

Two guards were standing at the door behind him, but he shut it all the same. He stalked over to his stepdaughter, but she didn't even look up at him. Keeping a straight face and staring at the wall in front of her, she drove him up the wall. He circled her chair for a few moments before slapping her straight in the face. She gave a muffled "mmmmf!" and stared up at him, shock and outrage stamped on her face.

"They got away because of you," he snarled. "Yes, I signed the document, but it was _your _little heathen friend who almost dropped me off the side of the building! They would have done it, too!" His face was red and he was shouting at the top of his lungs.

He continued. "Do you know what I had to do? I sent my best team of trained professionals after them! But now I'm confident, because they'll get those little winged brats! You brought this on yourself! By now, they're all dead. I'll be receiving news any minute."

He smiled triumphantly. "What do you have to say for yourself now, huh? What's that, I'm finally better than you? I've outdone you, and you never could save those children from me? _What do you have to say now_?" he bellowed.

She rolled her eyes and glanced at the duct tape covering her mouth. _I can't exactly talk, now can I?_ she thought bitterly. _I'll be fired by the end of the day anyway. This lunatic's going to jail. Oh, God, but Nudge and her friends…after all that, now it's over? _

The door opened suddenly, and she breathed a sigh of relief as his attention was taken from her for a moment. One of the secretaries walked in, with a slip of paper. "The assassins were sent out as you asked sir," she began. He beamed.

"Excellent," he said smugly, and turned back to his stepdaughter.

"Uh, sir," she continued, "that's not all. They were all…defeated by the bird children, and they've taken the helicopter. We sent out a search part, and all of the assassins were found lying on the side of the road, each a few miles apart. None were missing."

He turned pale, and clenched his fists. He had lost to them again. His damned stepdaughter had been right. "How many dead," he asked tensely. She fumbled around in the stack of papers to find the information. "I asked you how many were dead!" he barked. "Maybe I'll replace you with someone more competent to tell me!"

"I, um, six dead, sir…I'm so sorry, sir…"

"Get out!" he bellowed. "Get out, and don't come back! I can't have an incompetent running my office!"

"But sir, I've been working here for _twenty years_…"

"Why are you still here?"

"Sir, my husband has leukemia!"

"I told you to get out!" he screamed at her, grabbed his glass of iced tea and threw it on her. She gasped as he stepped closer and grabbed her shirt collar. "If you tell anyone about this your husband's going to die or something much worse than leukemia, I'll tell you that!"

It was then that the secretary noticed his stepdaughter, tied to a chair with duct tape over her mouth. She didn't care how much money or power he had, that was _illegal_. If she didn't have this job to pay for her husband's chemotherapy, this bastard was going to hell.

"I'm not afraid of you," she hissed. "You're done, asshole." And she fled the building, leaving him cursing alone in the small room. No, the flock would pay. He ordered five more troops to come into the room. When they got there, he addressed them formally.

"You know where the flock's house is located. Well, I want you to go there. Go there, and burn everything, every last inch of it, to the ground."

His stepdaughter's last thought was, _I'm so glad I saw this coming. _

**Nudge POV **

In a few hours, we drove into the driveway of our house. We didn't pay much attention to the house as we scrambled to figure out how to land the helicopter. We ended up crashing it on the lawn, and Max and I had to jump out at the last minute. The helicopter immediately burst into flames. Tendrils of smoke rose from its remains.

Fang, Gazzy, and Nudge were all just staring at the house, with Iggy sitting back, confused as ever as to why no one was talking. We followed their gaze, and my eyes widened in horror. Where the house used to be, there was only the base of the house and a heap of ashes. Smoke was rising from it, and it looked as if the house had just disappeared, if it wasn't for all the ashes.

"No!" Max screamed. "No, no, no! We could've sold it, we needed things inside it, we just lost everything! We can't afford a new house, or new furniture, or all the stuff we lost! That bastard destroyed our house, and now we have nothing!" She sank to her knees and buried her head in her hands.

Fang walked over and squatted next to her, patting the spot in between her wings to soothe her, but nothing would calm her down. She was in hysterics, because she and she alone was the only one in the family that was responsible for all the money.

The rest of the flock and I went back to the car to unload our things, and we sat on the front lawn and glanced at the remainder of our things. I had next to nothing, other than a few outfits. Angel and Gazzy had even less, and Iggy hadn't brought anything with him at all. And I couldn't shake the feeling that it was all my fault.

Then I noticed the envelope sticking out of my backpack. My name was scrawled on the front of it, and I recognized it as the one my agent had given me back in California. I opened it slowly, wondering if a letter or an apology would be inside. I actually kind of missed her, knowing I would never see her again.

I was confused when I pulled a slip of paper out of it. It was a note that my agent had put in. The only thing written was: _I really hope this helps. _

I reached inside the envelope again and pulled out another piece of paper, a crisper piece of paper that was rectangular. I gasped aloud as I saw that it was a check for $400,000, money to buy back all that we had lost; a house, new furniture, new clothes. How much had this taken away from my agent? I screamed.

The others looked up, and even Max managed to crawl over to my side. I hid the check in my hands. "What is it?" Max asked, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. I grinned up at her, handing her the check.

Her eyes got round and a smile grew on her face as she glanced at it. "Where'd you get this?"

"A very good friend," I answered simply.

**D: Stepdad's a bitch, huh. Anyone but me happy that there's gonna be more than ten chapters? As always, review!**

**~Rachel**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N - Longest chapter eveeeer xD You're welcome. This story probably has two or three more chapters left in it. Thanks for reading and reviewing. ^^ **

**Memorie of You **

**Chapter 12  
**

**Nudge POV **

When I woke up, everything was fine. I was with the flock, and everything was alright. Or so I thought. In a millisecond, I had no idea where I was, and what was worse, I didn't know who I was with. The faces of the people I was with were completely strange to me, it would be like looking at people in masks and having no idea who was under them. When I blinked a second later and rubbed my eyes, the faces changed to that of the flock. I remembered.

Then, I blacked out again, and I couldn't remember a thing. But that time, it was for a longer period of time before I remembered again.

After that, it was a short period of time again that I couldn't remember. When I finally did, I looked around me.

I was in the car, and I'd been sleeping for almost an hour, even though it was only nine thirty or so. We were driving to California, set on buying a new house with the money that we had. Nothing that fancy, just something for us to live in. Fang had been driving us since this morning when we woke up on our front lawn.

But waking up and not remembering, now that was scary. It was just a replay of what had happened in the hospital when I hadn't recognized Iggy. It felt unfamiliar, and I was afraid. Afraid of what would happen if my memories were failing me. I looked at Angel, and her hand was on mine.

"I told you that you might forget at first," she explained. "I put your memories back in your head for you. It'll be fuzzy for a little while at first, so when you start to forget things, I'll read your mind and know, and then I'll restore all of your memories, okay? It'll stop soon."

"No," I shook my head. "This is serious, and this is different. This isn't like the other times, when it was just a haze. This time, the memories, well, it was like they were just ripped out of my head. It was sudden. It was scary. Angel, I don't know what happened. It was never like this before."

I looked around the car. Everyone had dozed off but Fang, Angel and I. Fang was driving and he had his earphones in, so he might as well have been asleep. No one else knew about the new problem but me, and I didn't entirely want to get them involved just yet. They had all done enough worrying about me for one lifetime.

"Well…" Angel began. "You're not gonna like this…maybe I shouldn't tell you…"

I grabbed her shirt collar. "Oh, you'll tell me, all right. Because if you don't tell me, I'm gonna open this car door and throw you out. And then you'll have to hitchhike, you'll get in a truck with a nasty old truck driver, he'll get drunk and the truck will crash, you'll tumble out and lie on the side of the road, gasping your last breath as you wonder why you didn't tell me. Then, a vulture will pick you up and carry you away, feed you to her young and then you'll _still _be thinking of why you didn't tell me."

She released herself from my grip. "Okay, okay, chill. To be honest, I didn't think you could get there from here." She took a deep breath. "Well, here's how it works. Anyone who has some of your memories –basically, anyone who's been around you- can have access to yank your thoughts around and reach inside your head, if they're involved with the thought.

"Now, by looking in your head, I could tell you that it's your agent's stepfather that's pulling all the strings. By being around you, he got to be involved with all of us, and therefore all of your memories. He can yank you around all he wants now. But I'd be lying. It isn't him. He's not close enough to you. He doesn't know how."

She shook her head. "No. The person who's yanking you around is your friend, his daughter. She's close enough to you, even after such a short time, that she can actually control your memories as well as we can, Max and the others just don't know it! Think about it. You blacked out for a short time, then a long time, then a short time again. Isn't that just a shortened version of SOS?"

My head was spinning. I needed coffee. With a few billion sugar packets. "What's SOS?"

"SOS," she began, "Is Morse Code for 'Help'. It was believed that it used to mean 'Save Our Ship', but that's a lie. A backronym, if you will. Yes, it's a word! The point is, Morse code is a series of dashes and dots. 'S' is three dots, and 'O' is three dashes. If you shorten it, that's dot, dash, dot. Dot is short, dash is long. And you had one short memory blackout, followed by a long one, then a short one. She's calling for your help, Nudge!"

"What? She needs my help? What could she need my help for?" I asked. It was much too early in the morning to be having conversations like this, I was still half asleep. Of course, I knew Angel knew that, but this seemed desperate enough, according to her.

"It is!" she groaned. "I don't know what it is, I can't read her mind! But if we don't get there soon, she'll be in big trouble! Nudge, if we don't get there in a few hours, we won't be able to save her life!"

**Back in California **

She had started to panic long ago. She was past freaking out. This was completely insane. When his ninjas failed at killing off the flock, something in him had snapped. He had burned down their house, but she had been prepared for that with her check to Nudge. It wasn't cheap on her part, but she had managed. What mattered now was that he was playing the old 'let's hang her over a pot of boiling liquid' trick.

It was true. She was roped to the chair and once again, duct-taped so that she couldn't scream, while the chair was hanging from the ceiling, suspended by ropes that seemed to be getting thinner by the minute, all while her own stepfather had turned into some evil villain, laughing maniacally occasionally.

It wasn't really enough that he had loved her mom, he had always hated kids and treated her terribly. It wasn't like she had any other siblings to keep her company, and it was hell growing up with the man who was so kind to her mother and horrible to his own step-daughter. No, the man needed to be locked up in a straight jacket and a padded cell with a bag over his head.

But it wasn't helping anything for her to be sitting there and making fun of him, she had to do something, anything, to live. This guy was psychotic enough to kill her, that was for sure. And she might not have been "Max", or ever fought "Erasers" or ever lived in a cage, but this was just as life-threatening.

Magic hadn't saved Nudge. If you wanted Magic, you could stick your head in a Harry Potter book and pretend that your Hogwarts letter was "late". Nudge had made it clear to her that the flock could do anything, and she was positively sure that it included fixing her memories. If something that incredible worked, anything could.

So she concentrated on all that she had learned from her father before he'd died. He'd been a history teacher, and they didn't have a lot of money. Maybe that was why she'd been an agent, always wanting a richer life. She remembered sitting on her father's lap and not reading Winnie the Pooh but a history book of some sort, because her father strongly believed in learning from the past.

She thought back to the day when her father had gotten an old dusty book off the shelf and sat down on the mothball-smelling armchair that she loved, and sat her on his lap, opening the book. It was a book about the Titanic, the famous ship that had hit the iceberg and sunk in 1912.

Around halfway through the book, the ship had started to sink, and her younger self had been chewing her nails off, dying to know what happened, even though she knew it wasn't going to be a happy ending. When they explained how they signaled other ships, she had caught on quickly.

The ship had sent out a CQD and an SOS in every direction, to every ship within miles of their location, trying to get someone, anyone to save them. At the time, her father had taught her that 'SOS' was sometimes referred to as 'Save Our Ship', a backronym, for that wasn't what it really stood for.

It was Morse code, and the concept fascinated her, that people could communicate with dots and dashes. SOS was simply three dots, three dashes, and three more dots. Easy to remember and a cry for help to other ships.

Right when she remembered that feeling, that knowledge of a cry for help, she didn't realize that a signal went off in her brain and her connection to Nudge was put to the test. Subconsciously, she sent a cry for help directly to Nudge, who didn't even know what SOS was. Luckily, her sister did.

But she didn't know that. All she knew was that she was hanging by a thread over a vat of boiling liquid, and it wasn't going to be pretty.

**Max POV **

Nudge caught me admiring my ring again. But I just couldn't help it. It was so big and pretty and I didn't know how in the hell Fang afforded it, but it made me feel proud just to wear it, not because I felt rich, but because Fang had cared enough to give it to me. I was inspecting my reflection in the shiny surface.

"You're so lucky!" she whined.

"Hah, don't you wish you had one just like it?" I teased. Fang rolled his eyes next to me.

"I'll take it back and use the money to buy lottery tickets," he muttered.

"Iggy, why don't I have a ring?" Nudge complained.

"Not everyone had time to go to the jewelers and kiss up to his girlfriend!" Iggy growled at Fang. "That's like cheating. Nudge, I'll get you a ring, just you wait."

And that's exactly what he did.

Fang pulled up to a fast-food restaurant at the nearest town, clearly wanting to take a break from one hellish hour of driving, the big baby. I ushered the flock inside, and I was pretty sure we cleaned out the entire kitchen when they finally handed us the tray. I cackled as I proceeded to our table, passing out food for everyone.

Halfway through his third cheeseburger, Gazzy looked around, and his gaze lingered on something: one of those little machines where you put fifty cents in and get a prize. He leaned over and whispered something in Iggy's ear, and I knew it couldn't be good.

Iggy got out of his seat and went up to the counter with a twenty dollar bill, asking for the entire change in quarters. The cashier groaned, after having been through the whole kitchen searching for the last cheeseburger, and went in the back to get some more quarters. In five minutes, Iggy was over inserting quarters into the machine.

We all crept out of our seats and walked over to the machine to see what Iggy was up to. Turns out that the 'prize' was a piece of jewelry, a necklace, a bracelet, earrings, or a _ring_. Iggy knew as well as I did that there was one in there, and he was going to get it, even if it was made out of plastic.

"No," Angel rolled her eyes. "You are not getting Nudge's engagement ring out of a fast food restaurant machine. Not to mention it being plastic, Iggy. Don't you have class?"

"I think it's kind of original and sweet," Nudge surprised everyone by saying. "Let's just see if he can get it in forty tries. Let's just see."

He inserted coin after coin, and he was losing money fast. Every time the little container dropped out, Angel would open it and see if there was a ring. If there wasn't, well, that was just one more necklace for her stash of sparkly things. In no time, she had a whole pile of bracelets, earrings and necklaces – everything but a ring. Iggy was having absolutely no luck.

After a while, we all sat down and listened to the soft clink of the quarters and the slot opening, spouting out plastic box after box, all lacking a ring. Iggy was getting frustrated, struggling with all his might to get a ring. Well, as hard as you can struggle while putting a quarter into a machine.

He might have gotten more depressed, but Angel only got happier as she got all the winnings that no one else wanted. In no time she was decorating herself with it, not caring at all if Iggy got his ring, but checking all the same. Minutes later, he was left with only a dwindling handful.

Nudge was watching curiously, even hoping that he would get the ring instead of buying her a fancy and expensive one. She was the only thing that was encouraging him as he slid in quarter after quarter.

My eyelids were just starting to droop when I noticed that it was his last quarter, and they snapped open. He closed his eyes –not like he needed to- and slid it into the slot, wincing when the small plastic box slid into his hand. He opened it, and into his hand fell a gold plastic ring with a blue fake stone. He felt it in his hand, and smiled at his luck.

He walked up to Nudge and slid it onto her finger. Strangely, she had never looked happier. She jumped into his arms and kissed him like it was the first time, and I elbowed Fang. "Why can't you get me a plastic ring?"

He held up a finger and walked over to the machine. He took out two quarters and let them fall with a clink into the machine, and waited until the box popped out. He opened it and smirked as a ring with a red stone fell into his hand. He offered it to me with a grand sweep of his arm, and I took it, smiling.

And he leaned into kiss me, too. I smiled through the kiss as Gazzy gagged and Angel pointedly looked away. We stayed there for five minutes before Gazzy had a heart attack and we had to cart him away. Just kidding! But we did have to get back on the road, leaving Fang to drive again.

"I love you," I sighed to him once we were inside.

**Angel POV **

"Shouldn't we be focusing on more important things, like the fact that Nudge's agent could _die _if we don't get there soon? Your stupid ring thing cost us a half an hour! We need to move, people! Floor it, Fang!" I directed, and he did just that. We were off on the road again, and speeding toward California. I didn't care if a policeman saw us. I'd just control his mind anyway.

"We'll be there soon," Fang assured me. "We've been in California for a while now, you guys have been so preoccupied with Iggy's little ring that you forgot to ask. You and Nudge need to help us a little bit. We need to find where Nudge's agent worked and find her there. That's where the trouble would be."

We all agreed. The next hour was spent in silence as we drove across California. When we got close enough, we parked the car off to the side of the road and took everything worth stealing with us. We would come back for the car later, but it would be faster flying. Nudge and I led the way as we ushered the flock through the city.

I was worried about her. I used to think that having an adult friend would be weird, but all I thought about right then was that we had to get her before anything happened to her. She helped Nudge when no one else did, and I wasn't just going to forget that.

We walked through the front door of the building, scanned our eyes for the front desk and rushed over where a woman was sitting. Once she saw us, she probably knew who we were, but it didn't seem like she was going to call security. Without even asking us what we wanted, she stood up.

"Listen," she whispered. "I was in the boss's office the other day when he had a woman tied up with duct tape over her mouth. I recognized her – she was his stepdaughter. No one knows, but he has her in the basement of the building. He's probably going to kill her."

Max reached over and grabbed her shirt collar, pulling her closer. "What the hell is your problem?" she snarled. "You'd just let her die? Is that the kind of person you are? Her life is at stake!"

"I can't lose my job!" she gasped. "My husband…leukemia…he already fired me, I'm not even supposed to be here! But this isn't about me. Hurry if you want her to live!" Max released her and she fell to the floor, gasping for breath. By the time she got up, we were already gone. We were running down the emergency staircase, hearts pounding.

Once we got to the bottom, it was a maze of doors and walkways. I couldn't tell which one to enter, and I could just barely hear muffled thoughts, but they didn't give away any locations. I was stuck, and I didn't know where to go.

"Gee, maybe we should go through the door with the large 'Do Not Enter' sign taped on," Fang said sarcastically. I slapped my forehead because I knew he was right. Curse it all, he was perceptive when the rest of us were panicking.

Max raced to the door, with Nudge and I close behind. I pressed my head to the door and heard thoughts, coherent panicky thoughts. I could hear Nudge's agent's last thoughts as her chair got lower, lower, lower and closer to that vat of liquid…

"Fang, Iggy, guard the door!" Max yelled. "Make sure no one goes in, and make sure no one comes out!" And with that, we all shoved our weight against the door, breaking it off its hinges. Fang and Iggy stayed behind, and they vanished from my vision as I whirled around and chased Max, Nudge and Gazzy inside.

We were running on a walkway that led above the floor down below, where the vat of liquid was inevitably located. I could just barely see Nudge's agent hovering from the ceiling, and I smiled as I saw that we weren't too late. I was just about to jump into the air and grab her when a knife flew past my face, so sharp that it sliced my hair short on one side. I whirled around and saw her stepfather standing there.

Without another word, Max leapt forward and grabbed his shirt collar, launching him off the edge of the platform and down into the liquid. But he was too quick. Just before he landed, he shot a grappling hook up and onto the ceiling, pulling himself up and escaping a boil-y fate.

He swung off the grappling hook and jumped with amazing accuracy for an old man, slamming down on top of Max, wrapping one beefy hand around her neck, cutting off her air supply. His eyes fixed on Gazzy and he threw another knife straight at him, catching his jacket and pinning him to the wall. What was this guy, the king of knives? I knew if I moved to save Gazzy, I would be next, and Max would be next to helpless.

"You're not getting her!" he cackled. "I'm through with employees who can't do anything right, through with daughters who won't obey like good little girls!" And with that, he threw another knife, straight at the only rope supporting her from falling in the boiling liquid.

**Outside the Door**

Fang tried to ignore the sounds of the struggle, because Max had given him an order, but boy did he want to go in there and save the girl he was in love with. They could be hurt, or worse. And what was the point of having a blind guy guard the door? Like that would help.

Iggy sat in silence, knowing that Max would save the day like she always did. It probably wouldn't end there, he knew that. Something had been nagging at his brain ever since he had gotten Nudge that ring, and now it was eating away at his soul. _Yeah, soul of a poet, Iggy. _

"Fang?" Iggy's quiet voice cut through the sounds of the fighting, and Fang looked up. Iggy rarely sounded so serious, always cracking jokes. To be honest, the seriousness in Iggy's voice scared him, but he wouldn't have told anyone else that.

"Yeah, Ig?" Fang asked casually.

"You're so lucky," Iggy mumbled. Fang was just about to ask why, but Iggy spoke again. "When you and Max get married…you can bet that's the one time in life she'll wear a pretty dress. She'll shine, Fang. It'll be her special day. Nothing else will matter in the world but her."

"And when it happens for Nudge and I…she'll be the most gorgeous thing anyone ever saw. I can see her with her hair up and smiling…it'll be priceless. When she walks down the aisle and looks at me, it's supposed to be magical when I pull the veil back and look at her. Isn't that the best moment, that you remember for the rest of your life?"

He rubbed his forehead as a tear slid down his cheek. "I won't even be able to see it. I'll never see it." Fang crawled over and patted Iggy awkwardly on the back as Iggy's body wracked with the sobs.

**Max POV **

I'll say it right now – the knife never touched the rope. The minute the knife was thrown, Nudge knew what she had to do to keep her friend from dying. No one was expecting for her to jump right in front of the knife, but she did, and time should have stopped. In the movies and books, time always stops. Death is worthwhile and important. So why did everything explode when she died? Why didn't I get even one moment of peace to process it?

The knife hit her square in the chest, and I didn't know if it hit her heart, but judging from the amount of blood that spilled onto her clothing, I'd say that it got her pretty good. She fell to the ground, unconscious. No clutching at her bleeding chest, nothing. She was still. The knife fell and was caught standing straight up on the floor.

Angel ran at him, fury in her eyes as she had that look in them. The look that said that she couldn't pick up any thoughts from Nudge, and she just couldn't be dead. She ran towards him, but all he did was chuckle and throw another knife. Angel landed with a thud on the floor, a knife in her leg.

Gazzy broke free of the knife and ran at the man, and then the irony came into action. He ran at him, a rage in his eyes, and _he tripped over Nudge's body. _He tripped over her legs and screamed in pain as the knife that was standing straight up got him in the side. It didn't stick all the way through, it snagged on him and then fell over. I was grateful…it didn't look like he was going to die.

He turned away from Nudge and back to me. He grinned wickedly and dragged me over to the edge. I flipped over just as he pushed me off and caught the edge with my fingers. I was hanging by one hand over the boiling liquid.

And you know what? I thought it was the end for all of us. We would all die one by one, and I was almost resigned to it. It had been a good fight. And I could say a lot of things about how Nudge died and we died with her, but I'd be lying.

Because right then, he fell off the edge, too, and Nudge was in front of me, holding the knife he'd used to 'kill' her. The problem with it was, the old man grabbed onto my leg, and my hand was sweating. My hand slipped from the edge before Nudge could grab me.

Now, if I thought that back there was the end, that was nothing compared to what I felt like now. It was one of those 'well, shit' moments. And then, I discovered something very important – I wasn't dead. I looked above me, and I was hanging onto the rope attached to his stepdaughter's chair. Then, it was payback time, bitch.

I kicked my leg out, and the old man attached to my foot flew off. He landed just where I'd aimed for – right in the boiling liquid. I screwed my eyes shut and didn't look as I heard a scream, and then it ended. He was gone. I let myself fall off the rope, and whipped my wings out, smiling at the feeling.

We were free.

I grabbed Nudge's agent, and unwrapped her from the rope and the duct tape. I flew her back to where Nudge was waiting, and she threw her arms around her in a tight hug.

"I never got your name," Nudge whispered.

"It's Victoria," she answered with tears in her eyes.

**Outside the Door – Fang POV **

After all that waiting and thinking that maybe, just maybe they weren't going to be okay, I saw Max and the others trudge out. Gazzy had blood all over his side, Angel's whole leg was soaked in red, and Nudge was supporting her agent. But none of that really mattered to me as I stepped forward and swept Max into my arms, holding her to my chest.

I wrapped my arms around her and wondered if she could hear my heart beating as fast as it was. I tilted her chin up. "Never do that to me again," I whispered, and pressed my mouth to hers. Her fingers knotted in my hair and I brought us closer in desperation, not caring who saw.

I didn't know why I'd waited so long to ask her to marry me, or even to tell her that I loved her, no matter how much it killed me when she went out with Sam or pulled away the first few times I kissed her. I'd realized something very important that day.

No matter what happened, I'd always have Max. She's my whole world, the one person I can't live without. I've always loved her, from when I was a little kid in the School. It killed me to leave her for the few months that I did five years ago. And I know that I'll never lose her again.

**Okay, when I was trying to explain SOS/Morse code, my brain got fried. If you don't know what CQD is, go to Wikipedia. Thank god I didn't have to write more about ninjas in this chapter. I got to write about old guys throwing knives! xD Thank so much for putting up with my warped sense of death by frying in boiling liquid...pleaes leave a review! **

**~Rachel  
**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N - I'm back! I have decided something very important - two chapters after this one, and the story will end. I appreciate all of the reviews and anyone else who has read or favorited the story. It means so much, so thank you. And - I have two important announcements. **

**First, as this story won't last much longer, I have decided to make a new story, due to my love of writing five stories at once. There's a poll on my lookup for what pairing the next one will be, and _it will not be Fax. _The pairings will be pretty original, but vote nonetheless. I have some pretty good ideas for all of them. **

**Second, I'm so crushed because I _just got my new laptop_, and I have to go on a family vacation for over a week in to a place without internet. (I won't say for fear of being hunted down and killed for all my plot twists) I won't be able to update any of my stories, so please don't badger me to update any of them, I won't even be able to read the messages. Now, onto the story you clicked to read, **

**Memories of You **

**Chapter 13**

**Max POV **

The one happy moment we'd experienced hadn't lasted forever. Everyone was badly hurt.

Angel's leg was already starting to swell up, and Gazzy's side was bleeding a half hour later when we exited the building. The people in the lobby looked alarmed and backed away when they saw us, but at least no one asked questions. We all looked like we had gone through absolute hell to rescue Victoria, who had ropeburn all over her legs and arms, a huge red mark left from the duct tabe that was ripped off of her face.

But it was Nudge who was hurt the worst. The knife that was thrown at her had hit close to her heart, landing slightly to the left. A gaping wound was left, slicing through her shirt and visible even in the darkness of the night. Leaning on Victoria for support, though Victoria herself was hurt as well, she was able to make it into the car.

She couldn't even be forced into a sitting position. Moaning when Gazzy tried to get her to sit up, she eventually was moved to the floor when Victoria took her seat. Fang got in, making sure that everyone else was safe and sound, then slammed on the gas, speeding toward the nearest hospital.

All the while, Iggy was on the ground with Nudge, stroking her hair and glancing at the wound in her chest. It was deep, and I knew as his fingers ghosted over it that he was as concerned as he had been from that first day in the hospital when Nudge couldn't remember him.

My eyes traveled to her hand, and I smiled slightly as I saw the little plastic ring on her ring finger, glimmering slightly in the low light. I closed my eyes in a moment of pure peace until Fang slammed on the breaks, and I looked through the windshield to a large hospital, and an overwhelming sense of dread settled on my stomach.

Fang, Iggy, Victoria and I reached into the car and pulled out Gazzy, Angel and Nudge. I was amazed that even though Victoria was barely able to walk, she refused to leave Nudge's side the entire time, helping Iggy to carry her. My hand stroked Angel's hair as her eyes fluttered open, smiling when she saw that it was me, and glancing over at Gazzy, asleep in Fang's arms.

They were rushed into the ER, and it was hard for us to keep up with them as they were transported onto gurneys and carried into the back. Victoria was also taken from us, and it was just Fang, Iggy and I, forced into the waiting room despite our protests. I didn't know what they were doing back there, but even after five years, the antiseptic smell was getting to me.

The next thing I knew, all I was seeing was the School, everywhere I looked. When I blinked, Fang became a whitecoat, advancing on me with a needle and a small morsel of food if I behaved. Iggy's sleeping face became a dead mutant with scaly skin and sightless eyes, and the plush couches became cages, towering over me and closing me in. I was panicking.

I was either going insane, or it had something to do with the fact that I had gotten by on no sleep and a whole lot of worry in one day. I was going to go with the second one to try and salvage some self-esteem.

Hours later, I was dozing off on Iggy, who was asleep on Fang. I was shaken awake suddenly to see a nurse sitting in front of me. I peered up at her sleepily as she took my hand and led me through another hallway. Rubbing my sleepy eyelids, I didn't notice the nurse's concerned expression until the door closed and I saw a man with a lab coat in front of me. I'm no rocket scientist, but I think he was the doctor.

"Max," he addressed me, "Please have a seat." Uh-oh. That was never good news. I remained standing and looked him straight in the eye. Whoever it was and whatever was wrong with them, I didn't want to be one of those sobbing parents who felt so helpless that they couldn't function properly. "Suit yourself," the doctor shrugged kindly, and went back to his desk.

"I'll give it to you straight like I do all my other patients. I know there might be more of a chance, considering your ability to heal faster than normal, and Angel…erm…Gazzy, and Victoria are all going to be fine. The problem is with Nudge. The wound in her chest is great, and we don't necessarily think she'll be able to make it through the night."

I fell back into the chair, despite my resistance earlier. Could it be true that Nudge wouldn't make it, having just finally gotten her memories back? "I want to see her," my voice cracked. I knew that he wouldn't let me in, but I had to try. I couldn't let her die alone. "Please," I begged.

He shook his head. "You know as well as I do that it's against hotel policy to let anyone who's not directly related into her room. You may know her well, but you are not family. Gazzy is the only one who may _only _see Angel, and he's in his own room for his side wound. No one is permitted to see Nudge." Before he could blink, I leapt forward and grabbed him by the collar.

"I'm sure you've heard what's happened to her. It's all over the news, and she was even on Oprah, for crying out loud. Even before that, she spent years in a cage, with no one. Now, when she really needs us to be there, including the boy she's _engaged _to, you won't let me in to see her?" Fury was written on my face, tears gathering in my eyes.

He nodded softly. "I understand. I'll see what I can do." He removed himself from my choke hold on him and walked into the hall to speak with one of the nurses. In a few moments, he came back in. "Follow me," he said, and I did. When we finally got to her room, it shocked me, and awakened me to just how real the situation was.

With all the machines she was hooked up to, all the IV lines, and the oxygen tube running under her nose, you could hardly see the real Nudge under it all. Her eyes were closed, and her breathing was irregular. A huge weight settled on my chest. This was what the doctor had been talking about, and I knew that it could have been a risk, what with the knife so close to her heart.

Like this, Nudge might die. And unlike dying on the side of the highway with the people she loved all around her and perfectly whole, dying in this hospital seemed like hell, with Angel and Gazzy broken around her, no one to comfort her in the world, because she couldn't hear us. The idea of her dying here, in a hospital, with the eerie antiseptic smell, was the very thing we'd always had nightmares about.

Would it happen to her, a girl of seventeen, about to get married and with hopes and dreams for the future ahead of her? We had always known that the maximum life limit for us was going to be around forty, if we were lucky. This was too soon. She hadn't had children, and she hadn't had a family. She'd just got over her memory problems. Were we going to lose her now?

I felt a warm hand on my shoulder as tears slid down my face, not for the first time that day and not for the last. "I don't want to get your hopes up in any way. It's very possible that she could die. She's been through a lot. But the knife did miss her heart, and the Aorta. Even though her injuries are great, and the knife may have hit other important veins and arteries, she has a chance at life."

I turned around, my face full of confusion. "What are you saying? That she could life and get through this with a normal life, or that she'll live the rest of it in a wheelchair? If she's in a vegetable state, pull the damn plug right now. I don't want her to live like that. I want her to live and be okay. I won't believe that she has a chance and then have every hope shattered. I cannot, _will not_, tell that to my family."

"No," he protested, "It's nothing like that. She could very well life to be like you and the rest of the flock. The only thing is that it's not very likely. I'm telling you that you should know all about being prepared for anything. I'm asking you to do the same now. Have no expectations, and be willing to accept whatever happens."

I rolled my eyes. "Like I've ever done that."

"Please," he begged, "Spare yourself some pain. Be prepared to let her go instead of struggling to keep her alive. You'll be happier than if you haunt yourself by trying to hold onto something that's gone. I'm not asking you to give up, but I'm asking you to have the strength to accept the things you cannot change."

I resisted the urge to scream. "And what is that, something off a Hallmark card?"

"It happens to be the serenity prayer," he said. "I don't care what your religion is. You could be Jewish or Christian or atheist for all I care. But, as much as my profession chooses to ignore it, I believe in God. And as much as no one will admit it, all religions and cultures have a bit of wisdom in them. Miracles can happen, Max. You should know that."

My hands trailed over Nudge's IV-covered arm as he exited the room. _Please…God…_ I thought uneasily, _Let her live another day. _

**Angel POV **

My eyelids fluttered open to see the cream-colored walls and the IV lines next to me, but I didn't panic as Max would have done. Even just barely awake and terribly weak, I could still manage to hear the thoughts. I mean, you don't just wake up and your ears aren't working, right?

But why would I be in a hospital? We certainly hadn't been hurt badly, years ago, when we were still fighting, we'd had a lot worse than a few minor scrapes and bruises. My eyes opened wide in realization when I threw off the covers to stare at my leg, completely bandaged, with blood soaking through the entire thing and staining it a dull red color.

A nurse rushed into the room with a new bandage, carefully removing the bloody one as I winced. The bandage peeled back from the wound awkwardly, and I could see just how deep the gash really went. The smell of blood was prominent here, and I immediately switched to mouth-breathing. When the new one was on, I breathed a sigh of relief and pulled the covers back over.

I knew I should have felt lucky, because I was barely hurt at all. I had suffered the least pain, other than Max, Iggy and Fang, and I should have felt happy for my own life. But I just couldn't be. In the other room, I could hear Gazzy's nurse, bustling around him with more anesthesia. I heard no thought from him, and I felt empty without them.

And I felt an overwhelming sense of dread at being alone, for the first time in forever. No one was allowed in to see me, however much I would have enjoyed the company. I couldn't hear any thoughts from Fang or Iggy, and the anxiety was building up in me.

But the worst thing of all was that in the next room, the only thoughts I could hear were Max's. And they weren't good thoughts. I had seen Nudge get hit in the chest with the knife, and I had heard her fall to the floor with a weak thud. But Max's thoughts confirmed it – that Nudge would die here, without anyone.

What must it have been like for Iggy, when Nudge came out of that door, her entire chest stained in red and her eyes drooping all the way? What had it been like when he hadn't heard Nudge's chattering, and known that something was horribly, terribly wrong? I knew the answer. He didn't have any idea how serious it all was.

I wanted to cry. I wanted to die. But strangely, I couldn't find the strength or the lack of strength to do either. I was completely alone, but I couldn't help hoping that maybe, just maybe, Nudge would suddenly come up with her own strength and save herself from an early death.

Yeah. And maybe, just maybe, pigs would fly.

**Max POV **

I walked into the waiting room with a heavy heart, and sat down next to Fang. Gently shaking the both of them awake, I walked both of them down the hall. Ignoring the protests from the other nurses, I told Fang to go into Angel's room. My hand clasped Iggy's gently as I led him into Nudge's room.

He understood where we were, and he didn't speak one word. With a trembling hand, I grabbed his own and directed it to where Nudge lay. He ran his hand over her arm, up her neck and found the wires on her face and chest. His fingers ghosted over the wires with ease, not moving one thing. His hand remained steady the whole time, and his face was stone.

But with every wire he touched, he understood a little more that her condition was serious. He didn't speak, and I remained silent. And when it came to the bandages and monitors around her chest, his face contorted in the realization that she might not be coming back from this hospital. His hand clenched into a fist as he sat down on the bed and buried his face in his hands.

And the tears slipped through the cracks in his fingers, his body wracking in the sobs. I knew then that he wasn't crying and hurt because he felt sorry for her – he was crying for himself. Crying that he'd never see her again after this, and that he'd be alone without her. And I couldn't move from the room.

His hand found hers and squeezed tightly as I sat with him and put my arms around his shoulders, closing my eyes and taking one last shuddering breath before exhaling again. My tears felt like they would never stop coming, and his other hand grasped mine.

I walked from the room, leaving him alone with her, taking comfort in the fact that her hands were still warm and her heart was still beating. However much time he had left, he'd love her all he could.

In the hallway, I slumped against the wall, closed my eyes and held my head in my hands. In the rooms across the hall, I saw grandmothers and grandfathers, surrounded by their families, breathing peacefully and seemingly resigned to their fate. They'd all lived their lives, but Nudge still had hers to live. My eyes screwed tightly shut as I made a silent vow. Nudge would not die.

Fang walked into the hallway, seeing my position and hearing Iggy's sobs in the other room, and he understood everything. For all we knew, Nudge really wouldn't be making it out of here. I felt his arms wrap around me and I cried into his chest, pulling him closer. "Hey," he soothed me, stroking my hair. I looked up at him with wide eyes.

He tilted my chin up and tenderly pressed his mouth to mine. My hands hesitantly reached up around his neck where my fingers twisted into his hair. He pressed me up against the wall roughly, and I knew where this was going. But this just wasn't the right time.

I pushed him away gently and turned away from him. He slumped against the wall, almost disappointed. Suddenly, we heard a crash from Gazzy's room, swiveling around and running into the room.

Sure enough, Gazzy was there, picking himself off the floor and staggering a little. He groaned as he smashed into the wall, whirling, only to be met by the door. We raced to pick him up off the floor again, but he smacked our hands away. "W-where's Angel?" he asked hoarsely. "She's alright, right? He didn't get her, did he?" His eyes were wide.

"No, sweetie, he didn't," I held him close and stroked his hair. "She's in the next room over for her leg. You got out really lucky, Gazzy. It just missed your most vital organs, alright?" But he brushed past me like he didn't care. I thought he was going to Angel's room, but as I followed him down the hall, he passed over and entered Nudge's.

Iggy stiffened when he heard our footsteps in the doorway. Gazzy stared at all the machines that Nudge was hooked up to, seeing things seriously, not for the first time in the last few weeks. Even as they had gotten older, Gazzy and Iggy had always been the best of friends, partners in crime, and seeing him like this probably frightened Gazzy.

"Hi, Nudge," Gazzy said softly as he sat down on the other side of the bed, with Nudge in the center of them. "You know, I always thought you were going to live a long time, and talk more than anyone wanted you to." He smiled, a bittersweet smile, like she could actually hear him. "Come on, you can make it, Nudge."

He got off the bed abruptly. "I'll go see my sister now. I know that Angel's hurt and she probably won't be able to walk on one of her legs." He grimaced as he got up, clutching at his side.

**Max POV **

I heard him coming even before the door to my room opened. When it did, I grinned at him, sitting up a little. I winced as a pain throbbed throughout my leg, and motioned to the seat next to the bed, which he gratefully took, favoring the leg on the side he got stabbed in. "Oh, and Gazzy, you know that those gowns tie in the back, right?"

His face went scarlet and he glared. Pulling the robe shut, he scowled as he sat down next to me, but his face was quick to soften. He had a thoughtful expression, and I knew what he was thinking before he spoke, of course. "She's probably gonna die, Angel. After all this time, she's going to leave us."

"Max says that the doctor isn't sure," I said softly. "It isn't for sure yet whether she'll live or die. She could still have a chance, Gazzy. Nudge has been a fighter for as long as I've known her." But I wasn't exactly as confident as I was acting. I tried to be like Max, to not be surprised by any situation, but that just wasn't me.

I could fall asleep and dream forever of a world without troubles, but it wasn't my life. So I forced myself out of bed, hobbling on one foot. I dragged the IV line along behind me, heading toward Nudge's room for the last time.

**Max POV **

We looked up from where we had been sitting as Angel and Gazzy walked into the room. She offered a wobbly smile, then sat down on the floor with Gazzy. They both looked up at Nudge, who had become completely still. Her heartbeat was growing slower by the minute. I gave Fang's hand another squeeze.

Her mouth opened to breathe this time, her breath coming in short, quick pants. Iggy bit his lip until it stopped and it was back to normal again.

It wasn't too long before Nudge's agent came in on a wheelchair. She wheeled herself in, a grim expression on her face as she stared at Nudge, sprawled out on the bed but just barely breathing. She had a few minor wounds, nothing too serious. There were some scars from that psychopath's abuse, but nothing too major.

Hours later, we were still in the same positions. None of us were complaining about boredom, and usually in this situation, Gazzy would be pulling some fart joke or Angel would be commenting on Fang's perverted mind. Now, we were all sullen and silent as it had continued on, the heart accelerating, then slowing, then returning to normal.

And the doctor had said that it was possible that Nudge wouldn't make it through the night. I didn't know what we'd do if that was true, or what Iggy would do. Occasionally, the doctor would come in and check on us, or try to give Iggy false hope, but Iggy wasn't nearly stupid enough to fall for something like that.

"Hey, Max, I'm going to go down to the cafeteria and get something to eat. I'll go alone and ask for directions, okay? Call me if anything happens, alright?" After all, I was the only one with a phone other than Fang, and his had gotten lost when he was guarding that door.

Iggy was off, down the elevator and probably halfway to the cafeteria, by the time Nudge's eyes opened. Our eyes brightened as she smiled at us, for once remembering us when she woke up. Her eyes scanned the room, but Iggy was nowhere to be found. I dug out my cell phone excitedly.

Then, her eyes closed again, and there was a flat line on the monitor. The cell phone clattered to the floor as the beeping continued, panic coursing through the small room. Victoria wheeled herself over and felt at her wrist while I grabbed the other one. There was no pulse. Fang leaned over and felt at her chest, but there was no heartbeat. By all rights, she was technically dead.

"No!" Angel surprised me by jumping to life and up to Nudge. "No, no, _no!_ It's not possible!" She tried to give Nudge a mental shock with all of her might, but gave me a distressed look when Nudge didn't respond. I scrambled to pick up the phone on the floor, dialing Iggy's number. My face fell as I realized that there was no way that Iggy was getting up here. The battery had died.

The nurses and doctors rushed in, but I knew that there was nothing they could do. I buried my head in my hands as the tears welled up once again. Victoria's eyes were wide and Angel had to be pried off of Nudge by three of the nurses, but Gazzy was silent and perfectly calm.

This was it. Nudge was dying and Iggy hadn't even been here. I slammed my fist into the nearest wall, cursing as the blood stained the wall and my knuckles, the skin torn and scraped. But I didn't care about that. It was the fact that even though all of us had been there, Iggy hadn't been, and she really had died alone.

The doctor shot me one last glance, one that said that she was really gone now. They couldn't save her anymore. And so I took a page from his book. I thought of all the times I had had with Nudge, and shoved them into a drawer in the back of my mind. I couldn't change this. As much as I wished I could, I couldn't change this.

"What the hell is going on?" I heard a voice from the doorway. Iggy was standing there, his eyebrows furrowed. "Why are all these people in here? Is there something wrong with Nudge?" His eyes widened in new realization. "She's gone?" he asked quietly.

And I saw something in him snap, a defiant snap, like he wasn't going to take no for an answer. He knew that Nudge wasn't dead, not really, and he'd be damned if he was going to let her die on him like that. "Nudge," he yelled suddenly. "Nudge, come back! Stay with me, Nudge! Damn it, I know you're alive!"

He kept yelling her name, begging her to wake up, and the doctors forced him back. He struggled against them, and I only sobbed harder. He kept calling her name until his voice broke, and he collapsed on the chair next to her bed. "Nudge, please," he whispered, one last time, and she opened her eyes.

"Nudge," he breathed, before sweeping her into his arms, and she only hugged him back harder. She was crying into his shoulder, and he was basically thanking God that she was safe. And I know that I had the strength to accept the things I couldn't change…but right now, I didn't have to. She was alive.

They stayed like that for hours, in each other's arms and not about to let each other go. In the early hours of the morning, the doctor came back and spoke to me privately in the hall. "Max, by medical standards…she was really dead. But that boy saved her. She recognized his voice and her heart started beating again. You really have a strong family, there."

"I know," I answered. "I know." And I turned away from him, walking back into the room with said family, the people that I loved, and even Victoria, who Nudge seemed to adore. We were all in it together for the long run, but the worst of it was over. Nothing could have been worse than what we had already been through, but our story wasn't over quite yet.

**Don't forget to review now or forever hold your peace! xD Seriously, do that and vote on the poll on my lookup, closing August 1st, 2010. ^^ 2 chapters to go...Thanks for reading! **

**~Rachel**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N - I'm sorry it took me so long to update this! I love all of you that review my storyyyyy~ x3 Thank you so, so much. On another note, after this story ends, a new one will begin. The poll on my profile decides which pairing it will be! ^^ Unfortunately, there is a tie, so a new poll will be made to break the tie. Vote on it if you'd like to read the new story! **

**Everyone who reviewed more than once gets an internet cupcake -they're the pretty muffinx xD-. There were a lot of you, but nm-maximumride4eva and sunshine loving devil were super awesome! **

**Memories of You **

**Chapter14**

**Nudge POV **

I glanced into the mirror in front of me, as I gazed deeply into the eyes of my reflection, studying myself. After so much talking about it, and my own fantasies of this day for years, it was finally happening. Everyone was bustling around me, playing with my hair or preparing things, but I was strangely calm, like being in the eye of the hurricane.

So much had happened to me, all in the course of a few months. I'd almost lost Iggy, and all the memories of him. More importantly, I'd almost lost all of them completely! But Angel had saved me, and Iggy had saved me, and my family had saved me. I'd met some horrible people, but I'd also made friends.

The memories drifted away every few days. I knew what was happening, and I'd try to figure out where I was, even _who _I was, but I just couldn't, and it wasn't my fault. Every time it happened, Angel had all my memories with her. All she had to do was touch me, and I'd know where I was, and I'd be home again.

Once or twice, I woke up to remember nothing, and ended up wandering out of the house, always having to be retrieved by the flock. They didn't mind doing it, although I sometimes felt like a bother. But every time I had doubts about staying with them, Iggy would make it go away.

It wasn't always easy, but I was going to do everything I could to stay with my family and live a normal life. Of course, we all knew that the flock would never be completely normal, not by a long shot. But at least we could try, laugh, live and enjoy ourselves. Sometimes, it wouldn't be hard. And this certainly wouldn't be our last adventure.

Four years ago, Max had saved the world. We were all there to help her, but she was the one who really did it, just like we all knew she would. It wouldn't have been right if she hadn't, but we were all there supporting her.

It was strange to think that years after all of our problems were supposed to be over, I had gotten to have my own adventure. It wasn't anything great like saving the world, but it was enough for me. This time, I hadn't been so sure that we'd get past it, or even make it out alive. It was the worst thing that had ever happened to me.

But it was also the best.

I looked into the mirror, seeing all the people around me. Today would be one to remember.

**Max POV **

I finally had my dress on, and even I had to admit that it was gorgeous. It was all Nudge's doing, she always knew how to shop, for sure. My hair hung in fine silky curls that framed my face and shoulders, and I was nearly killing myself in the high heels, but I would live.

So I suck at puns, don't shoot me. But it was really beautiful, actually. We were under a white tent, where the girls were getting ready, and the guys had one of their own. Outside, chairs were being set up in a garden owned by the city, and soft violins were playing as the people playing them prepared for the ceremony.

The late-summer wind picked up around me and blew my hair lightly, my feathers ruffling slightly at the breeze. That's right, my wings were fanned out behind me without a care in the world, and there were no ninjas attacking me or weird old men throwing knives.

Around a month and a half ago, the flock had picked everything up and moved to California, back to the very place of horrors we had experienced. When we were there for _normal _reasons, it was generally more peaceful for us. But if we wanted to be ourselves, and not have to hide, we had to come out and tell the world who we were.

So that's what we did. We explained that we weren't going to hide anymore, and we were willing to be ourselves without ridicule. For a few weeks, it was all people talked about, and we were stuck in our house, hounded by reporters and irritated to no end. We were on the front page of newspapers _in India_. All over magazines, the news, it seemed like we would never escape.

But, as always, something comes along that the press like better, that's new and fresh, and exciting. This something happened to be the unexpected death of Miley Cyrus. She was hit by a car. It was quickly blown up into more extravagant news as a rumor circulated that Nick Jonas was the one driving the car.

After that, the only people who noticed us were our neighbors. And although we sometimes caught people staring us, sending us sideways glances when they thought we couldn't see, we could wear our wings around, freely. It felt so right, so wonderful. It was just what we had always wanted.

I stepped out into the bright sunlight, letting the sun shine softly on my hair. I enjoyed a moment of pure peace before I was interrupted by Iggy. He was panting and sweating, and I could tell he'd been running. "Where were you?" I asked. "It's starting soon, and you're not even dressed properly yet!" I eyed his jeans and t-shirt.

"I guess I'm just nervous," he admitted with a shy smile. "You actually look pretty, by the way," he added as an afterthought. I rolled my eyes.

"You're too kind," I said wryly. "Look, just go to the other tent. They're already taking care of Fang, I'm sure they'll be able to do…something with you," I said in mock distaste. "Go!" I shooed him away, walking back inside the tent. I could feel the butterflies in my stomach, taking the small plastic ring from the chain on my neck –identical to the one Nudge wore- and compared it to the fancy ring Fang had given me.

I wasn't sure which I liked more.

**Nudge POV **

I saw Max walk back into the tent anxiously, and I have to say, she looked beautiful. She was wearing a one-shoulder flowing dress, but I should know. I practically picked it out for her, dragging her through the best stores and spending a fortune, no doubt. But it was worth it. They had done everything perfectly.

Her hair cascaded in ringlets over her shoulders, small gems decorating the top of her head. She was actually up on high heels, white but shiny and polished and not too tacky like some of them had been. Her dress was long with a short train, and thin straps on both sides of her neck that came to rest on one side on her right.

I, on the other hand, had my hair up in an elegant bun with a few strands curled around my face to pool at my neck, with the same gems in a crown on my head. I also had a strapless dress with black designs and swirls, matching with my white and black heels, which I could walk on considerably better than Max could.

I'd always been so worried about how I looked, always checking my makeup and preoccupied with my hair. I wanted to be pretty, to make up for being a freak of nature with wings. But today, I didn't worry about it, letting my wings fan out behind me. And I actually felt beautiful, not like a freak, and I didn't need to worry.

Angel skipped in, and beamed at the both of us. She looked completely adorable, and just like Max's sister or daughter. Her hair was curled the same way, bouncy curls framing her face and cascading over her shoulders. Her dress was simpler, slightly silver with spaghetti straps, and a bouquet of soft pink flowers in comparison to the white ones that Max and I carried.

"Everyone is in the garden," she clarified. "Victoria's here, and so are Jeb and Dr. Martinez. Everything's entirely set up, they're just finishing up with the guys. They probably had to scrub to remove all Fang's eyeliner," she joked. "In about five minutes, you're out there."

It felt so strange, I noted as I smoothed my dress. Knowing my life, something would go wrong. Would Iggy leave me, or would something even worse interrupt us today? Would the most important day of my life be the one I forgot?

Max and Angel noticed as something clouded my vision and I walked to the edge of the tent, looking into the sky. I was already technically handicapped. I'd never pictured myself like this, and it made me feel disabled. I was disabled, because I still had to have Angel touch me, even to get me to remember who I was.

Someday, when we could just settle down, when Iggy and I got a home, possibly even when we had children, would I wake up every morning and not be able to remember them? This didn't just effect me. My entire life, I'd been more trouble than I was worth, and now it was really getting out of hand. I didn't want to ruin their lives.

And I was seriously starting to think about saying no to Iggy, telling him to find someone better, and to leave me. It wasn't like it got me anywhere last time, all it ended up doing was getting me lost in California. But if I had to, I could live that way. I wasn't weak, and having memory loss was something that I'd just have to live with.

"Stop," Angel put a hand on my arm, and I was brought back to earth. "Nudge, you aren't a bother. We love you and we don't care if you have a couple problems. I'll always help you, and you're staying, because Iggy loves you more than anything and so do we." Her eyes glittered with tears. "Don't go," she whispered, and I saw her for the eleven year old she really was, and the six year old she had been.

Max came up on my other side. "I didn't let you cut off your wings when you were eleven, and I won't let you leave now that our lives are finally piecing together, you little brat," she grinned. "So go out there and go get him!" She smiled encouragingly.

My heart soared as Angel jumped excitedly when the violins started playing, got a firm hold on her bow and flashed us one last smile before running out to finally walk down the aisle. She really was pretty, and she was growing up. It wouldn't be too long until she had a boyfriend, and her own life.

Max grabbed my hand and laced her fingers through mine, giving me a bright smile. "Our turn," she said quietly, and we took a step into brighter sunlight, holding onto our bouquets like they were our last lifeline. And all I had to say, looking at the setting and the music and the people was…wow.

It was gorgeous. The grass was short, clipped and smooth, with roses and assorted flowers scattered all around, and white chairs set up in rows, all facing an old-fashioned gazebo, flowers hanging on it. There were only a few puffy clouds in the sky, the golden light shining down softly as the early-autumn breeze fanned my hair out behind me.

Ahead of us, Total and Akila marched down the aisle, seemingly smiling, though I knew for sure that they couldn't. Akila carried a small basket that flower petals fell easily out of, as Total carried a small pillow with two sparkling rings. Angel walked behind them, smiling slightly as adults pointed and smiled at how pretty she was and how tall she was getting.

Jeb and Dr. Martinez sat in the front row, their hands resting on each other's peacefully –was something going on there?-, watching us as the procession moved forward.

Everything was perfect, calming and just how I had always imagined it, but I didn't pay attention to a bit of it, because at the end of the aisle was the guy that I had come so far for, and how this whole thing started, but I still loved him to death. And at that moment, I felt so much love that it felt like I would burst.

A certain strawberry-blonde boy smiled at me, _right at me_, and I saw that I was halfway down the aisle, and Angel was standing next to him, touching his hand lightly. _Showing him me. _I would have glanced at her gratefully, but my eyes were fixed on him, in his white tuxedo, which suited him strangely.

No doubt that Max's eyes were lingering on the tall, dark-haired boy next to him, who wasn't dressed in the traditional white but still managed to look formal and appropriate in black. Gazzy was standing behind him, grinning slightly. Cameras clicked around me feverishly, and I bit my lip to keep from smiling.

As we got to the end of the aisle, I reached out a trembling hand to take Iggy's, warm and reassuring, and I could have melted right there. I let go of Max and looked up at Iggy, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Max looking up at Fang with the same wonder in her eyes. Iggy lifted a finger to my chin and led my face back to him.

And I let all thoughts of Max –or anything else in the world- disappear. How could I ever say no to him? I couldn't even if I wanted to.

The music came to a stop when we were finally ready, and we were standing just where we needed to be. I felt every eye in the garden on us, but I didn't care. Some older man that looked like a preacher of some sort stood between Fang and Iggy, in the center of the gazebo.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today…" he began reciting the words for the traditional ceremony. And despite how utterly and heartbreakingly gorgeous everything was, I would have preferred getting right to the vows. Max, too, had never been one for patience, and was currently fidgeting uncomfortably.

Dr. Martinez shook her head behind us. Even now, Max would always be Max.

Throughout the remainder of the service up until our vows, I entertained myself with certain fantasies involving Iggy and I –oh, grow up-, feeling myself start to doze off through it all. I never had a great attention span, believe me. But I snapped out of my haze when I heard him asking Fang what I'd been waiting for.

"Do you, Fang, take this woman, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for better or worse, until death do you part?" he asked Fang, who replied with a professional "I do," but it seemed different from anything I'd ever heard him say. He looked at Max when he said it, and she looked like she was ready to faint.

He turned toward Max, and I had to stifle a laugh. She looked like she had seen a ghost. "Do you, Maximum Ride, take this man, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for better or worse, until death do you part?"

"I do," she whispered faintly to Fang, who smiled wryly and squeezed her hand. The color returned to her face and she took a deep breath, letting it out in a rush. Fang smiled again and put the ring on her finger, giving her a moment to admire it, as he knew she would.

"You may kiss the bride," the preacher guy said, and he leaned down and swept her into his arms, cupping his hands around her face and pressing his mouth to hers tenderly. Her arms came up to caress his cheeks, and she leaned into the kiss, deepening it.

I, having lived with them for years, was used to this pervy kind of making out that they did. But the crowd wasn't, and it would have appeared that Max and Fang had forgotten about Dr. Martinez and Jeb watching the little scene. Someone in the crowd finally cleared their throat, Max broke away, blushing like mad.

I felt a small shiver of…what was it? Excitement? Anticipation? Nausea? Ah, all worthy answers. He turned to Iggy first, and I almost collapsed in relief. Why was I so scared? Didn't I want to marry Iggy?

"Do you, Iggy, take this woman, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for better or worse, until death do you part?" He asked.

"I do," Iggy said, giving me a slight smile of encouragement. And my heart swelled. So when the preacher looked at me and asked me the same question, how could I possibly say no? This was how it was going to be forever. Iggy was really it for me. I wouldn't lose him to anyone, he'd be mine forever.

"Do you, Nudge," _Talking to Iggy…_

"Take this man," _Holding Iggy…_

"To have and to hold," _Kissing Iggy…_

"In sickness and in health," _Forgetting Iggy…_

"For better or worse," _Loving Iggy…_

"Until death do you part?" _Remembering Iggy. _

"I do," I said whole-heartedly, meaning it with everything I had. I would love him forever and for always, as long as I lived. But I had been wrong about one thing. Nothing, not even death, could part us again. The real ring was slipped onto my finger, then.

"You may kiss-" but he was cut off as Iggy stepped forward and covered my lips with his, pulling me close to him as my arms wrapped around his neck and his around my waist. Our lips moved in perfect synchronization, and I had forever wrapped up into a few moments. He broke away too soon to look at me, and I knew he could, because Angel's pinkie finger was stretched as high as it could go to the base of his neck.

The preacher guy was smiling wryly at us, clearly a bit peeved that we hadn't let him finish his last sentence. "I now pronounce you man and wife," he said to us. "And man and wife," he added to Max and Fang as an afterthought.

"One last picture for the newspapers, for old times' sake?" A photographer joked to us. I shrugged. "Why not?"

So we all crowded together, Max, Fang, Iggy, Gazzy, Angel, Dr. Martinez, Jeb and Victoria. Somehow, Iggy and I were pushed toward the center of the picture, and I couldn't help but smile as I saw Max on my right, Iggy on my left, Angel a step below me and Victoria a step above me. We all smiled as the camera clicked, a picture of all of us together, one last time.

After that, we wandered around to take some private pictures for our homes. First, we captured some of Gazzy and Angel, then Iggy and I split off from Fang and Max to take some pictures of just us. Kissing him, laughing with him, holding him. I was positively sure I was never going to be able to forget.

We returned back to the garden, where the late afternoon was fading and the dark was falling. Someone had hired a DJ with _real _music, and there was a lot of dancing going on, as well as food, cake and drinks. The garden had been turned into a dance floor, with several teenagers laughing and having fun while adults sat and talked in other areas.

"I'm going to go get some cake," I excused myself from my constant place by Iggy's side, and went over to the table, trying to decide between my white cake with pink frosting and Max's dark chocolate swirled cake. Just as I was about to make my decision, knife in hand, I felt a light tap on my shoulder.

Whirling around rather suddenly, a very surprised and frightened Ella jumped back, eyeing the knife in my hands cautiously. I grimaced and put the knife down. But then I remembered how she had almost stolen Iggy from me, and I folded my arms over my chest. Did she have to show up on my _wedding day _and remind me of what almost happened?

"Hi, Nudge," she said quietly. Her eyebrow had been shaved off, I noticed. I remained silent, the smallest hint of a frown on my face. I was trying to be civil, I really was. But what I really wanted to do was scream at her. When I kept silent for a while, she took a deep breath.

"Okay, here it is. I know I was a world-class bitch to you, and that it wasn't fair." I waited, raising one eyebrow. "Look, I always knew Iggy was in love with you," she continued. "I was always a little jealous, because, well, I liked him too. And when you were having memory problems, I wanted to keep him for myself so badly that…I didn't consider your feelings.

"I know I really hurt you, and I don't expect you to forgive me. We used to be such good friends, what I did was inexcusable. I hope you can forgive me in the future," she said softly. She turned around to leave, and I felt as bad as she did in that moment. What had happened to us? We had practically been sisters.

"Wait," I pulled at her wrist, turning her back around. Much to her surprise, and mine, I pulled her into a swift hug. She was startled at first, but leaned into the hug eventually. We were both crying when we pulled away. She gave me one last watery smile, then walked away quietly.

I picked up the knife again, settling on the cake that I had actually picked out, the white cake with pink frosting and little edible roses. Just as I was about to cut it, I felt another tap on my shoulder, slightly harder and from a chubbier finger.

"What?" I practically yelled. It was my damn wedding. Could I not simply eat my own cake? I turned around, face to face with Gazzy and some girl I'd never met before. She was cute, with dark brown hair and a light summer dress on. She looked slightly disturbed by my outburst, but Gazzy just grinned.

"Nudge, this is my girlfriend, Cynthia," he offered. "She wanted to meet you." She smiled shyly. She was a good foot shorter than Gazzy, but she _was _a normal human, after all.

I smiled on the inside. I always knew that Gazzy would get a pretty girl. He was so smart, kind and honest, it was only a matter of time. And this Cynthia looked like exactly that kind of person – the kind who couldn't hurt a fly. She might be good for him.

"Do you really have wings, like Gazzy?" she asked quietly. I smiled, and wordlessly unfolded my wings from my back, revealing their complete length. She eyed them, quietly impressed, and a bit enviously. "Cool," she whispered. "Congratulations," she stuck out her hand, and I took it in a silent thanks.

"Come on, Cyn," he pulled on her arm, and she turned around to face him. He scooped her up into his arms, and gave me one last smile before taking off into the air, a smile on her face. He had really grown up.

The cake temporarily forgotten, I joined Iggy in a walk through the gardens. The sun was low in the sky now, the low light casting shadows on the gardens. Colorful lights lined the walkways and the gazebo, where he pulled me along, under the glow of the lights.

We leaned on the railing of the gazebo, watching the stars appear in the sky. I made a wish on every one. A wish for happiness, a wish for peace, a wish for love. It seemed magical, a perfectly cloudless night. He held me close, one arm around my waist, hugging me to his chest. I certainly didn't complain.

"I love you," he whispered, leaning in to kiss me, not for the last time that night. I wound my fingers into his hair, leaning into his touch and the sweetness of the kiss. And I didn't have to say anything. He knew I loved him just as much, and I always would.

He had my heart, every inch of it. I knew I'd never lose him again. He was everything that I cared about.

The last thought I had of the night was that I'd been wrong. The old memories weren't the only thing that mattered to me. I cherished the new ones, too.

Memories of today, and the past experience, would always be in my heart. But new memories would be added to those soon. I could feel the beginning of our lives, starting tonight. As the last stars appeared in the sky, I made one last wish.

I wished for forever.

**Thanks for reading! I'm grateful for each and every review. Now, to get our some of your *cough* excitement, you COULD click the button in the center of the screen, right below this. Or, ya know, vote on the poll on my profile, or read my other stories or something. *coughcough***

**I have pictures on my profile of the wedding. Interested?**

**Please leave a review :) **

**The next chapter will be the last. **

**~Rachel**


	15. Epilogue: Happiness

**A/N - Thanks for the good reviews! This is the epilogue -duh-. It's one thousand words shorter than normal -sorry!-, not that it matters, because I _could _be really mean like I was originally planning to and make it only one thousand and five hundred words. Instead, I doubled it. So, you're welcome xD **

**The title for this epilogue - "Happiness", is based on a song that I translated from another language -song excerpt found at the bottom- If you would like to know the song for any reason, PM me. ^^ **

**Thank you so much for reading and reviewing. I hope some of you continue to read my stories. Another one is on the way! Well, okay, I'm rambling. Enjoy! **

**Memories of You**

**Epilogue - Happiness**

**1 year later – Nudge POV **

I walked through the spacious house, my hands ghosting over walls and furniture. Everything seemed to be in order, now all that was left was to wait for everyone else to arrive. Although I fussed with the decorations and preparations of it all, hounding Iggy to do this and that about a hundred times, even I couldn't deny that it was absolutely perfect.

To be fair, it wasn't something unnatural. We'd celebrated Thanksgiving two or three times, one with Anne, six years ago, and a couple times before I'd lost my memory. But this year was surreal. Only Iggy would choose to throw a real Thanksgiving party, having no extensive knowledge of the pilgrim's day.

He had done his research well, I thought to myself as I wandered into the main hallway. He had gone above and beyond to make it seem less tacky than it normally would. No plastic turkeys or Native American cutouts. It was almost elegant, in a way.

Colorful yet soft lights were strung throughout the house in an endless path, tinted orange and yellow, creating an almost magical feeling in the air. Elaborate designs of faux leaves decorated the lights, windows, walls and baseboards, caught in one never-ending moment, as if they had just flown off the trees.

The long table was decorated with an assortment of wines, all of which I had picked out. In the center of the table, a large cornucopia overflowed with dark purple grapes, pears and squash spilling from its circular mouth, all of which had taken me a certain amount of time to arrange in just the perfect ways.

I loved it. It was the most wonderful thing I'd ever seen. Of course, both Iggy and I were working, and could therefore afford such things. I had almost immediately gotten a job working as an intern in fashion design, and was promoted on the spot when I put in some ideas and such. I made more than most middle-aged adults.

Iggy was working as a mechanic, and he'd discovered that he enjoyed more than just making bombs with Gazzy. He made a decent salary. Our house was no mansion, but it had a certain elegance about it nonetheless.

Max had discovered that weddings aren't nearly as horrible when you don't have to mess with your own. She was a paid apprentice to a wedding planner, but she wanted to stay away from the whole mess of actually attending a wedding for a while. Nevertheless, I knew she'd get a job as an _actual _wedding designer one day.

Fang had his own column for the LA Times. It wasn't like he needed any special recommendations or qualifications, he was a member of the flock, for heaven's sake, and so was hired on the spot. He could, at times, be quite funny.

Gazzy and Angel had been living with Max and Fang, insisting on keeping Total and Akila. They had a particularly large house that wasn't as glamorous but had more of a feeling of home. Of course, everything was so different now that we didn't see them every day. We were still as close as we could be, but we had our own lives now.

Most importantly, something had changed the day I'd married Iggy. I didn't know if marrying him made any coincidence, but I never once lost my memories again. Angel was always there when I needed her, but I never forgot a single thing, ever again. I still didn't know how long it would last, but I was hoping for the best.

I walked into the kitchen to check on Iggy, who, naturally, was working on all of the general food arrangements. I'm not a terrible cook like Max, but no one was exactly begging me to cook, either. I snuck up behind him and wrapped my arms into his waist, grinning into his back.

Peeking around his front side, I noticed the large carving knife in his hands and immediately jumped back. "Iggy, put the knife down," I grimaced, picturing Fang walking through the front door only to have Iggy ram the knife into his stomach. "Gazzy's girlfriend is coming over, and we don't want her to be scared the _moment _she walks in the door."

"Relax, I just got this out to cut the turkey," he replied, and I remembered the food. The most wonderful smells were filling the kitchen. "Ah, you even made a pie!" I squealed, running over to the counter where it sat, and sticking my face over it.

"Get away from the pie," Iggy pointed the knife in my general direction. It was then that I noticed the other pies. I should have known it wouldn't be just one. There were three pumpkin pies and one apple pie. "You better have a bathtub full of whipped cream," I reminded him.

"Will you set the table? _Please_." He groaned as the timer on the oven beeped noisily and he scurried over. "The others will probably be here any minute. Ah, hot." He cradled his burnt hand, which he had managed to burn even though the oven mitt. I nodded and grabbed eight forks, knives and some of those fancy-fancy cloth napkins I had bought yesterday.

Just as I was setting the last napkin inside the napkin ring, the doorbell rang. Before Iggy could yell at me to get it, I ran around the corner to the front door. I opened it, and smiled warmly at Max and Fang. They thought they were _just _going to walk inside, but the minute they did, a pilgrim hat with a feather in it was placed on Fang's head, and a crown of leaves was placed on Max's.

I myself was wearing a crown of flowers, and Iggy was wearing one of the pilgrim hats. Fang just rolled his eyes and dragged Max in with him to help Iggy in the kitchen. Angel smiled as I put a crown of leaves on her head, and walked into the living room, admiring the colors and lights.

Victoria was at the door next, smiling awkwardly as I put a crown of leaves on her own head. Ever since we had moved back to L.A., we had gotten to be close friends. Behind her was Gazzy, followed by Cynthia, who actually looked really cute. "Hey, guys," I said, then forced the hats onto both of them.

Gazzy and Cynthia had been going out for a year. They'd never once broken up or had problems. I'd seen her countless times, and they were practically inseparable. What was weirder was that she seemed to think we were all cool, like we were normal.

"Did Iggy pick out the hats?" Gazzy asked sarcastically. I slapped him playfully and went into the kitchen to get some of the stuff on the table. Iggy was pouring everyone red wine when I walked into the kitchen.

Fang eyed the pilgrim's hat on his head with mild disgust. "Just give me the _bottle_, Iggy." Max elbowed him.

Gazzy grinned like crazy when Iggy offered him a glass of red wine. "Gazzy, put that down, you're way too young to have that," Max scolded him. He gave her a sheepish grin. "But Max, when Iggy was fifteen, we had to haul Iggy out of that bar, remember?" Cynthia giggled as Max asked me where the aspirin were.

At some point, we all filed into the dining room to start eating. The flock's eyes got round when they saw the turkey, ham, potatoes, beans, salad, cranberry sauce, vegetables, deviled eggs and all the pies.

It went well. The meal was lighthearted, with lots of talking and laughing. Because Cynthia was the only one there that was really religious, she said grace, and we all muttered along like we knew the words. She then surprised everyone by eating even more than Fang did.

"Come on, Fang!" Max pestered him when they got into an all-out eating war. "She's just a fifteen year old girl, you can take her! What kind of a man are you?" He gave her a dry look and kept eating, but it looked like he was about to hurl. He finally had to put down his fork after his third piece of pie.

"Thanks for leaving some for the rest of us," Iggy took a swig from his bottle of vodka. Max and I shot glares at him that were wasted on his blindness. But I guess he could feel the hate anyway. "What? The last time I got drunk was four years ago. It takes a lot now."

He thought on it for a moment. "You girls should probably stay away from this, though," he added as an afterthought.

When dinner was over, we all grabbed our plates to pile them in a huge mess in the kitchen sink, where no doubt I'd have to clean them tomorrow because we'd be too stoned tonight. Fang tried to help Max out of her chair, like she was disabled or had some kind of disease, but she shot him a look.

And apparently I was too dense to figure it out on my own, because I never saw _this one _coming. "Max is pregnant!" Angel yelled and pointed to Max's stomach, like it would explode at any minute. She covered her stomach protectively and glared at Angel.

Iggy exploded with laughter. "Max, with a kid?" he chortled. "She'd like, kill it in the first week by neglecting to feed it!" He studied her closely. "Does this mean Max is gonna get big and snap at us a lot?"

"That's what generally happens," Victoria raised an eyebrow. "Max will make a great mother. Her practice was taking care of _you _for nineteen years." Iggy rolled his eyes and started grumbling incoherently.

Angel peered at Max's stomach. "I can see it! It's already happening…" her eyes crossed.

"Thank you, but I am only two months pregnant," Max glared. "And the next person who says _anything _is going to _die_."

"Well, I think it's great that Max is having a baby," Cynthia smiled. "After Gazzy and Angel leave, they'll need someone to keep them company."

"Off with your head!" Iggy rammed the carving knife into the turkey.

This was pointedly ignored.

After that, everyone split off into small groups, as we usually tended to do. Gazzy and Cynthia were off on their own little planet, Max and Fang had scuttled off somewhere, Angel was off trying to explain to Victoria what 'ROTFLMAO' meant, and I was helping Iggy in the kitchen.

His bottle of vodka was confiscated and I forced him to go brush his teeth, because I hate the smell of that stuff. When he came back, I was loading the already-abused dishwasher and washing the large pots and pans by hand. He leaned in the doorway, a lazy smile on his face.

"Alcohol may not affect you, but the food did," I shrugged.

He strolled in nonchalantly, taking a seat at the kitchen table. "Can you believe Max is having a baby? I mean, I never thought Fang would be the dad type. Babies are the killers of all romance," he declared.

"Really?" I asked quietly.

"Of course," he answered. "Everyone knows that if you have a baby, all your attention focuses on it. Before you know it, you're up at two-thirty in the morning to change it, your sex life is ruined, and once that goes, you know, you start turning on each other, and before you know it, you're divorced," he said matter-of-factly.

I rolled my eyes, throwing the dishrag down and looking him in the eye. "It doesn't always have to be like that, you know. What about having a family, huh? What about families that actually do make it, with two parents _and _children. It's sexist, idiot men like you who think that it can't work in the first place!"

"Do you want to talk about something…?" he asked uncomfortably.

"I'm lonely!" I stamped my foot, tears threatening to spill. "I'm lonely when I'm not at work, and on weekends when I'm watching TV or reading a magazine or calling Max on the phone! She and Fang have the flock, and I'm lonely!" I sniffled. "And I know I have you, but…but…" I trailed off.

Before I knew it, his arms were around me. "I love you, and it's not that you aren't enough, but this isn't just some game for me that I can play whenever I get bored. I want a family. I don't want to be lonely anymore."

"If you want a family…we can still try," he replied, and squeezed my hand.

"Thank you," I whispered.

Our blissful moment of peace was suddenly interrupted when Gazzy, Cynthia and Angel all rushed into the room and barreled straight into us. I looked at them with my hands on my hips crossly. "Sorry to ruin your…moment..." Gazzy wrinkled his nose, "but we can't find Max and Fang anywhere!"

"I know where they are," Angel grinned sadistically, picking something out of her nails nonchalantly.

I ignored her and looked at Gazzy. "Okay, well where do you think they went?"

"Maybe they were _tired_," Angel hinted. And I understood, I just wished I hadn't. I rolled my eyes. "Come on, Gazzy, let's go find them," I chuckled, an evil grin spreading on my face. So I led them down the hall and to the right.

"But this is your bedroom," Gazzy said, not getting it. I rolled my eyes and opened the door.

"My eyes! They burn!" Gazzy cried almost immediately. Cynthia blushed scarlet, and Angel continued nonchalantly picking imaginary dirt out of her nails. Max and Fang jumped apart awkwardly as we tried to ignore what had just happened.

"What? They were just making out. It's not like you walked in on Fang watching porn or anything," Angel rolled her eyes. She wasn't lying – she'd heard things from Fang – unspeakable things that she'd have to 'hear' in the middle of the night.

"Well, there was that one time-" Max began, but a look from Fang silenced her. I gaped.

"Okay I so did not need to know that!" I yelled.

"Oh, you know, 'all growing boys have needs' and all that," Angel chuckled darkly. "Just, next time, get a room, Fang."

"I was in a room _both times_!" he yelled as we closed the door with a click. "What happened?" Iggy asked as we walked back into the kitchen. None of us answered him. Which, naturally, led him to only assume the worst.

"Whoah, Max and Fang were doing that in our room?" he gaped. I slapped my forehead.

"Alright, everyone pile into the living room, I'm getting a picture out of this if it kills me," Max smiled, a camera in her hands. I rolled my eyes, but I was smiling, as all eight of us tried to fit onto that small, abused couch. It ended up being the five adults with Angel, Gazzy and Cynthia either on the top of the couch, on the floor or off to the side.

The same picture made our Christmas cards, the fridge, and the picture hanging on our wall, but we didn't know it at the time. I ended up half-squished, Fang ended up smashed awkwardly with Iggy's elbow in his stomach, and Max wasn't even in the picture, but we all managed to smile.

For the rest of the night, nothing that eventful happened. We talked, we laughed, and we spent time together, wearing our silly hats the entire time. Iggy wanted to play strip poker, but he settled for drunk Truth or Dare. We may have had to explain a few things to Cynthia's parents – she played, too.

Yes, Iggy ended up licking a toilet seat, and yes, Gazzy ended up sticking his finger in an electrical socket, and yes, Cynthia was _very _funny when she was drunk, but we had fun nonetheless. And Max got pictures of it all – although it helps when the photographer isn't drunk, too.

For our first _real _Thanksgiving as a married couple, I don't think Iggy and I did too badly. After all, we all had a number of things to be thankful for. The night waned eventually, and it was time to say goodbye. But it wasn't the end, of course. It was the beginning.

I left Iggy to wave them goodbye as I walked into our room, out onto the second-story balcony. I felt the cool autumn air blow around me, and I saw a million stars in the clear sky. It seemed like forever that I was out there alone. I thought of everything that had happened to me, everything that I had come true.

And I felt happy, at peace, thinking of how it was over. My first adventure had ended, but another was coming. Because life was a never-ending adventure. My life promised to be one full of heartbreak and drama. But right now, it was the time for joy and peace.

There was time for anything to happen. I wasn't sure exactly where I would end up. But I knew I would have Iggy, and the flock to back me up. I would have my own children, and they would have their own adventures.

Then when I was old enough, and I was ready to lose my memory and die, I would be ready for it. But it wasn't now.

I felt Iggy's arms wrap around my waist and hold me close. I leaned up to kiss him in the moonlight. So it would seem that one of my wishes had been granted. I had forever wrapped up in that kiss.

So I guess this is where the screen fades to black, the credits go up, and the curtain closes. Goodbye and goodnight. It was a long road, but I made it, and I got a little wiser on the way. I'd like to think so, anyway.

_Start running, Start running,_

_Let's go and welcome tomorrow,_

_Let me hear your sound, I feel it, _

_So remember me, _

_Come along, now, let's put on a show! _

_Don't stop, Don't stop, _

_In my heart, these moving feelings nest,_

_No matter how short this human life may be, _

_It has just been one of happiness~!_


End file.
